Azerbaijan GP: Kush Maini survives crash, disqualified for causing it

Indian Formula 2 driver Kush Maini, on Sunday, survived a crash during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku.

Starting in the fifth grid, Maini's vehicle was left in bits and pieces along with other cars involved in the crash shortly after the race began.

While most of the drivers managed to avoid the collision, Maini's car was hit from the back by another driver, causing a dangerous situation as the Indian driver's car overturned.

This incident prompted an immediate red flag and the race was stopped.

Fortunately, Maini, along with the other drivers directly involved in the crash Pepe Marti from Spain and Oliver Goethe of Danish-German nationality, left the incident unscathed.

After the accident, Maini underwent precautionary checks with the medical team at the circuit and was given the all-clear along with other drivers involved in the crash.

Maini, associated with Invicta Racing, had entered the race with optimistic prospects, having secured a commendable fifth-place finish in the qualifying round.

The collision, however, brought his campaign in the Azerbaijan GP to an unexpected end.

Maini held responsible

After the crash, the stewards examined the accident footage and held Kush Maini as guilty of having caused the crash.

Post-race investigations found that Kush failed to engage the 'Start Set Up Procedure' for the start of the race, as is required by the technical regulations, and that this error led to the car stalling on the grid causing the subsequent collision.

Following the incident, Kush Maini was handed two post-race sanctions.

Maini was disqualified from the race and handed a 10s penalty which couldn’t be served, so it has been converted to a 5 place grid drop for the next race that he takes part in.

Currently competing in Formula 2 for the second year in a row, Maini is determined to pursue a reserve driver position with Alpine for the 2025 season.