The Asian Age

Focused on the GP3 Series, says Arjun

- CHITRANGAD­A D.C.

Falling in love with gokarting at the age of five, Arjun Maini has scorched the tracks with a singlemind­ed focus. The teenager, who boasts of several accolades since an early age, became the first Indian to win in the GP3 Series after lifting his maiden GP3 title with Jenzer Motorsport­s in Barcelona last month.

The win was the cherry on top of a memorable week for Arjun, who had just been signed by F1 team Haas as a developmen­t driver. Coming from a family of racers, the Bengaluru lad has come a long way having set stride in the direction of Formula One, which is his ultimate dream.

Back home, Arjun opened up about his memorable win and his life in the paddock, before he heads off to Austria to hit the tracks again. On life after the GP3 win and Haas sign-up It’s been pretty normal. Of course it’s a big boost to my confidence but my training continues to be normal. I’m approachin­g everyday as I usually do, trying to be better than I was the before, that’s how I strive to be.

On his interactio­n with the Haas team We had our first meeting last year at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and I got signed just before my first weekend of the year. I was able to be in the garage during the session. Basically understand how the drivers work with the engineers and how the teams operate at the peak hours of motorsport. I’ve had small chats with (Kevin) Magnussen but not for long since they get quite busy in the weekends. That’s what’s important about this role. That’s what I want to take with me, all the experience I can to prepare me for what could be in the future.

From GP3 paddock to F1 paddock It’s unbelievab­le. It’s hard to explain. When you walk from the GP3 paddock to the F1 paddock the difference in everything, the size, the glamour, it’s absolutely unbelievab­le. I’m not going to lie, it does feel a bit overwhelmi­ng initially, but when you get over, the racing is still the same. You still go out there to win.

Haas wants me to be completely focussed on what I’m doing now and that’s the GP3 series and that’s what I’m going to do. That is the 100% focus for this year. If the GP3 season goes well that opens up a lot of doors and opportunit­ies. Results in GP3 will determine whether I get to drive the F1 car anytime soon.

On long term goals I’m taking it as it comes, day by day. I just started doing really well now. We’re third in the championsh­ip in the GP3 and that’s how we want to continue, be in the top threefour in the GP3 championsh­ip. That’s what I’m looking forward to this year.

On Karun Chandhok’s influence He started guiding me pretty much when I got into cars. It’s very important that someone like Karun is guiding me, he’s been there and he’s made it. He knows what I need to do and what not to do. And that’s what’s great. It’s made it easier for me. And I’m really grateful for what Karun’s done. He started guiding me ontrack initially but as time went on he’s backed off there and helps me more with off-track decisions.

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