Maini comes from a family with a background in motorsport. His brother Kush races in the FIA Formula 2 Championship with ART Grand Prix, and his father Gautam competed in the National Racing Championship in the late 1990s in the Formula India Single Seater Maruti Engine class. Maini began karting at the age of five, receiving an 80cc Comer Kart. His uncle Chetan Maini is known for building India's first electric car, the REVA, and founding Reva Electric Car Company Ltd, now Mahindra Electric Mobility Limited. Maini idolises Sebastian Vettel and enjoys wrestling, cycling, fitness activities and video editing in his free time.
Maini won his first two championships at the age of eight — the MRF Mini Max Championship in both the Rotax class and the 4-stroke Cadet class. He then raced internationally in the Asia Max championship. In 2008 he became the youngest Indian to win a kart race abroad, winning the Malaysian Royal Kelantan Kart Prix. He was selected by the Red Rooster Racing Team in 2009. In 2011 Maini won the J.K.Tyre Rotax Max National Karting Championship title in the Junior Max category and was named Sahara Force India's 'One from a Billion' winner. He also won the AKOC race in Macau and the Ask KF3 Race in Elite, Malaysia, finishing second overall in the AKS Malaysian Championship 2011.
In his penultimate year of karting, Maini finished fifth in the ROK Cup International Final in the Junior ROK category and was awarded best rookie at Rowrah while racing in the MSA British Karting Championship. He also finished second in the Junior category in the Indonesia Kart Prix 2012, and first in the Junior Max category in the Rotax Invitational Karting Race at Kuala Lumpur.
Maini stepped up into cars in 2013, finishing runner-up in the J.K.Tyre Racing Series championship, winning two races at the Buddh International Circuit and taking the Malaysian Super 6 Series title.
In 2014, Maini competed in the BRDC Formula 4 championship, finishing second overall — missing the title by three points to teammate George Russell — with eight wins and nine podium finishes.
At the beginning of 2015, Maini finished fourth overall in the Toyota Racing Series in New Zealand, with two wins, five podiums and three poles. He also finished fourth in Race 2 of the Pau Grand Prix. He managed 18th overall and ninth in the rookie class in the FIA European Formula 3 series, ending the season with a tenth-place finish at the Macau Grand Prix.
In 2016, Maini raced for Jenzer Motorsport in the GP3 series, finishing tenth in the championship despite missing the first four races. He became the first Indian to secure a podium in the GP3 series, finishing second at the Hungaroring. He also raced at the Macau GP for Team Motopark.
Maini signed with Jenzer again in 2017, scoring two podiums including a victory in the sprint race at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, and ending ninth in the championship — two positions behind teammate Alessio Lorandi.
At the end of 2017, Maini took part in a post-season test in Abu Dhabi with F2 teams Trident and Russian Time.
Maini signed for Trident Racing in the 2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship, partnering with Haas F1 Team development driver Santino Ferrucci. During a race at Circuit Paul Ricard, Maini reported a lack of power over the radio, stating that people did not believe or support him and that Formula 2 was not providing good equipment. The Trident team analysed data and agreed; Maini was given a new engine shortly after.
Later that season, Ferrucci deliberately ran Maini off the track at Silverstone and then crashed into the back of Maini's car after the chequered flag had been waved in the same race. Ferrucci also appeared to mock Maini on Twitter over his complaint about the car's power. Ferrucci was banned for several races and subsequently fired by Trident.
In 2019, Maini replaced Dorian Boccolacci at Campos Racing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship at Spielberg. He raced in six races, scoring no points, before being replaced by Marino Sato.
In May 2017, the Haas F1 Team signed Maini as a development driver, a role he held throughout 2018.
Maini transitioned to endurance racing in the European Le Mans Series with RLR M SPORT. He also competed in the 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Asian Le Mans Series, winning the first race at Shanghai International Circuit.
In 2021, Maini joined the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters driving for Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed, achieving his first podium finish in the series at the Norisring — the first podium for an Indian driver in the history of the DTM. He switched to Mercedes-AMG Haupt Racing Team for the 2022 season, achieving two fourth-place finishes, and remained with the team for 2023.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
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