Maini hopes Silverstone experience can bring maiden F3 pole

1 July 2022

Kush Maini says he will be relying on his prior experience around Silverstone as he aims to secure his first Formula 3 pole position. The Indian driver was quickest from MP Motorsport teammate Caio Collet in Free Practice, with the duo over half a second clear of anyone else.

Maini has stood on the podium at Silverstone before during his British single-seater days and says that experience has played a role so far this weekend. He added that the team had done a good job in getting the car in a good place out of the gate ahead of Qualifying.

“This is one of the tracks I know the most out of the ones we go to because of my British F3 experience so I’m always confident here,” he said after stepping out of the car.

“I’m really happy to start the weekend like this because it shows our car is strong and I’m doing a decent job of driving it. I’m just looking forward to Qualifying and we’ll be trying to do the same thing. Now it's just about fine-tuning small areas. Our baseline is quite good, so we’ll just be tuning the last bits and then we should be particularly good later.”

With temperatures around Silverstone remaining low and rain expected to remain in the air throughout Friday, Maini says that the tyres have been tricky to fire up and that whoever can best manage the hard compound during the push laps will be handsomely rewarded.

“With the hard compound, it's harder to put heat in them, so everyone seems to be doing two push laps. Your balance could change from one push to the other, so it's just about getting it in that sweet spot and then putting the lap together yourself. I want to just replicate Free Practice and put a good lap together and then wherever it is, I don't mind, as long as I've done a good job.”

Another driver happy with their Free Practice efforts was Jonny Edgar, who returns this weekend after recovering from his health issues. The Trident driver finished P9 in Practice and says that his first time back in the car on a competitive weekend was a bit of a learning experience, but it had gone well.

“It was good to be back in the car again, it took me a little bit to get used to. Also the steering wheel changed quite a bit from before. It took me a little bit to get used to the car again, but then for me it was quite good. We made some changes in the session, but I think everything went well and the pace looks pretty good.”

Edgar is returning this weekend after missing two rounds of the 2022 F3 season as he focused his efforts on recovery and regaining full fitness. Now that he has driven his Trident and gotten a feel for things once more, the Briton has no major concerns for the remainder of the weekend.

“The fitness is now a lot better than it was in Bahrain, but I still think in the races, obviously they’re a lot longer, they’ll probably be difficult for the first few weekends back. But just getting the fitness back again I think shouldn't be too much of an issue.”

Separately, Edgar says that his car has also been in the right ballpark ahead of the afternoon. The Briton says that there will be some minor changes that are mulled over with the team but that he expects little to change in terms of setup between Practice and Qualifying getting underway.

The Trident driver is aiming for a top 10 result in the Qualifying session and says it is well within his and the car’s capabilities.

“The car was good, we haven't really got any issues. There are some things for Quali we're going to improve, just little things but it was good because the car wasn't too oversteer-y or understeer-y, so it was nice to drive. It was good to build the confidence back up again ahead of qualifying.

“I was inside the top 10 in Practice, and I think a couple of people used new tyres, we didn't, so I think around the top 10 I would be happy with that. Somewhere in the top 10 would be good.”