Lights-to-flag victory for Kush Maini in F2 Monaco Sprint
Kush Maini became the first Indian driver to win in Monaco after victory in the Formula 2 sprint race.
MONACO–Kush Maini converted pole position into victory in the FIA Formula 2 sprint race around the tight streets of Monte Carlo as his rivals squabbled for position behind him.
"P1, first Indian to win in Monaco too. It’s a great honour and a dream come true," said Maini.
"I want to say thank you to DAMS and everyone who has supported me. We keep believing!”
Maini held the lead at the start while Gabriele Minì passed Luke Browning for second, as Browning fell to fifth on the opening lap.
Arvid Lindblad nicked Jak Crawford while attempting to pass for third into Mirabeau, allowing Browning up to fourth and ahead of Crawford and leaving a penalty looming over the Red Bull driver for the rest of the race.
Minì kept close to Maini in the lead, while Lindblad and his team debated how to approach the penalty, allowing the leaders to get away so the Brit could attempt to sprint away from the field at the end of the race to earn back as much of his ten-second penalty as possible.
It was for naught when Joshua Duerksen went into the barriers on lap twelve, bringing out the safety car, and leaving Browning directly behind Lindblad at the restart.
Maini was pulling clear of Minì at the front, while Lindblad again attempted to bottleneck the field and allow for a final sprint to the finish.
Lindblad went for it on lap 22 but it was unsuccessful, dropping the Campos driver to eighth in the final standings as Browning held on for the final podium position.
The podium brings Browning to just one point behind championship leader Alex Dunne after a consistent season so far for the Williams junior.
It was an historic victory for Maini, as the first Indian to take victory around the streets of the principality.
"As a young kid from India playing F1 on the PlayStation, I never thought I'd be here and I'd be winning in the second tier.
"Really grateful, grateful to the team as well. We've had a very rocky start, with a lot of things going wrong, some in our control, some not, but our season starts today and then there's still a long way to go for us.
"This is a positive note to take forwards."
Irishman Alex Dunne remains in the lead of the standings on 65 points and will lead the field from pole for the feature race at 5.40pm on Sunday.
