Kush Maini graduates to F4 in 2016

Following a successful year in karting, including a victory - first for an Asian - at the Trofeo Andrea Margutti, Maini will make a full-time graduation to cars this year.

The 15-year-old will race in the Koiranen GP backed SMP F4 and Spanish F4, taking part in 45 races across the two championships.

The SMP series feature rounds in the Northern Europe, including Holland, Russia and Finland, while the Spanish F4 will primarily be based in Spain, with a few races in Portugal.

After confirming his plans for the upcoming season, Maini said: “Both the SMP and Spanish Formula 4 championships are one-make championships, which means all the cars will be equal.”

“This gives me a chance to focus on my driving, while at the same time learning various tracks I have never competed on.

“I’m quite excited about starting my car racing career and I’m aiming for a Top 5 in both championships, although I will strive to win both,’’ he added.

Like his elder brother and Formula 3 racer Arjun, Kush will be mentored by former Formula 1 and Formula E racer Karun Chandhok.

The 32-year-old left it upon Kush to decide for a switch from karting to formula cars. “Now that Arjun is settled into a team of his liking in F3, Gautam [Kush's dad] and I turned our focus onto Kush,’’ he said

“The move from karts to cars is always very hard to judge and in the end, we left it to Kush to decide. Motorsport is a great way for a young man to mature.

“I believe that being forced to make these sort of high pressure decisions involving considerable financial investment at such a young age will help him grow as a person in the long run,’’ he added.

Maini got his first experience of single-seaters last year, when he competed in two rounds of JK FB02 series in India, notching a podium finish in only his fourth race.

Following confirmation of his plans, Maini will straight away get down to business, with test sessions scheduled at the end of this month in Valencia and Navarra circuits.