Kush Maini converted pole position into a spectacular win in the F2 Monaco GP Sprint Race. This makes him the first Indian to taste victory at the iconic street track.
- Maini wins, 3.705 seconds ahead of Mini
- Secures first win with new team Dams
Lights to flag win for Maini at Monaco
Moves up to P13 in F2 championship
Maini qualified P10 for the Feature Race, handing him pole position for the reverse-grid Sprint Race. After a clean getaway, he spent the majority of the race under pressure from fellow Alpine Academy racer Gabriele Mini behind him.
He got some breathing room when the Safety Car was brought out on Lap 12 (to recover Joshua Duerksen’s car). Maini then aced the restart and pulled away enough to escape the DRS range from Mini. “I was struggling a bit with front locking, and one of my brakes fell asleep, so it was just not about going for the quickest lap this race, but about being consistent, and not making mistakes, and just controlling the race, which I feel we did,” Maini explained.
He went on to take his second F2 sprint win, 3.705 seconds ahead of Mini. This is also his first win with his new team, Dams, and after a difficult start to the season, this comes at a crucial time to boost Maini’s confidence.
“Obviously, this is the Sprint Race; we all want to win the Feature, but it’s still a win in Monaco. As a young kid from India, playing F1 on a PlayStation, I never thought I’d be here and winning in the second tier. So, really grateful, grateful to the team as well,” said Maini.
“We’ve had a very rocky start, with a lot of things going wrong. Some things were in our control, some things not, but our season starts today, and there’s still a long way to go for us, so this is a positive note to take forward.”
The win moves Maini up to P13 in the championship – 54 points behind the leader, Alexander Dunne.
2025 F2 Monaco Sprint Race results
| 2025 F2 Monaco Sprint Race results | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pos | Driver | Team |
| 1 | Kush Maini | Dams |
| 2 | Gabriele Mini | Prema Racing |
| 3 | Luke Browning | Hitech TGR |
| 4 | Jak Crawford | Dams |
| 5 | Richard Verschoor | MP Motorsport |
| 6 | Sebastian Montoyoa | Prema Racing |
| 7 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Invicta Racing |
| 8 | Arvid Lindblad | Campos Racing |
| 9 | Alexander Dunne | Rodin Motorsport |
| 10 | Ritomo Miyata | ART Grand Prix |
| 11 | Roman Stanek | Invicta Racing |
| 12 | Oliver Goethe | MP Motorsport |
| 13 | Max Estersen | Trident |
| 14 | Amaury Cordeel | Rodin Motorsport |
| 15 | Dino Beganovic | Hitech TGR |
| 16 | Sami Meguetounif | Trident |
| 17 | Victor Martins | ART Grand Prix |
| 18 | Rafael Villagomez | Van Amersfoort Racing |
Also see:
2025 F1 Monaco GP schedule, India timings
Kush Maini confirmed as Alpine F1 test and reserve driver