Indian star takes part in shock F1 test

An image of F2 driver Kush Maini — Photo: © IMAGO

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Indian star takes part in shock F1 test

Kush Maini is back behind the wheel of an F1 car

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Wednesday 22 April 2026 15:00

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An Indian racing star has been handed the opportunity to get behind the wheel of an F1 car this week as one team conducts private tests at the home of the Dutch Grand Prix.

F1 was forced to cancel the fourth and fifth rounds of the 2026 championship due to ongoing conflict in the Middle East, introducing a five-week enforced break to this year's calendar.

With no replacement races selected, teams have been taking the opportunity to carry out much-needed testing instead of competing in the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix this month.

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Alpine is one of those teams, and earlier this week, Indian racer Kush Maini took part in a private test session with the F1 team that has backed his motorsport career since 2023.

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Alpine test reserve drivers during F1 break

On Tuesday, F2 star and Alpine reserve driver Maini posted a video to his Instagram story where he could be seen driving Alpine F1 machinery at Zandvoort, with a caption that read: "Solid day w/@alpineF1team."

Maini was joined by fellow Alpine F1 reserve drivers Paul Aron and Alex Dunne, with the trio trying out Alpine's F1 machinery in the Netherlands.

A TPC (Testing of Previous Cars) event allows a team to give valuable and often rare seat time to their academy drivers and is an ideal opportunity to prep a reserve lineup for future F1 call-ups, as well as focusing on car development.

Alpine aren't the only team making use of April's enforced break to use up their filming day and TPC quota, with seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton spotted testing his Ferrari at the Scuderia's private testing track in Fiorano and four-time champion Max Verstappen expected to test his Red Bull at Silverstone for a filming day this week.

Mercedes and McLaren's F1 driver duo's also took part in a Pirelli tyre test at the iconic Nurburgring circuit in Germany earlier this month.

Has there ever been an Indian F1 driver?

Maini joined the Alpine Academy in October 2023 ahead of the 2024 season that saw him compete in F2 with Invicta Racing.

After securing his maiden F2 win in Hungary and becoming a senior member of Alpine's programme, he has participated in multiple TPC events as well as representing the Enstone-based squad at show run events, even making an appearance at the legendary Goodwood Festival of Speed.

The now 25-year-old was added to Alpine's vast F1 reserve driver roster for the 2025 campaign, making his debut in an F1 session when he drove the A525 in the Abu Dhabi post-season Young Driver Test last December.

In the 76-year history of F1, there has only been three drivers with Indian heritage. Narain Karthikeyan was the first Indian F1 driver, making his debut in the pinnacle of motorsport in 2005.

Ex-racer turned Sky Sports pundit Karun Chandhok is also Indian, having raced for HRT and Cosworth in 2010 and 2011.

There wasn't a single driver on the F1 grid with any Indian heritage between 2012 and 2025, with 2026 rookie Arvid Lindblad finally bringing Indian representation back to the sport. The Racing Bulls star does not race under the Indian flag and has dual-nationality between Britain and Sweden, but he has Indian heritage which he is very proud of on his mother's side.

F1 last raced in India on October 27, 2013, at the Buddh International Circuit, with there only ever being three grands prix in India in total.

Despite Indian Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya recently stating that there 'will be an F1 race in India in 2027', GPFans understands this will not be the case, despite the sport recognising India as a valuable market.

Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

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F1 Alpine Zandvoort