New Delhi: Formula 2 Indian racer Kush Maini survived a life-threatening car crash on Sunday during his F2 feature race at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. His car couldn’t get going off the grid when the five lights went out which led to the cars behind crashing into him. The incident occurred on the opening lap of the F1 supportive race as it just preceded the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
The 23-year-old’s vehicle stalled and had nowhere to go during the start of the race as his car’s engine stopped working all of a sudden. This led to Pepe Marti of Spain and Denmark’s Oliver Goethe unsighted, and crashing into Maini in what was a massive collision. Maini’s car was in bits and pieces with major damage to the rear part by the impact of the crash. He fortunately came out of the car unharmed.
¡Impactante!🤯
Así fue el incidentado inicio de carrera en la F2 de Baku donde se vieron involucrados Kush Maini, Pepe Marti y Oliver Goethe.
Afortunadamente, los pilotos están bien. #F2 #AzerbaijanGP pic.twitter.com/vZ2ryJ4vqI
— Formuleros (@formuleros_py) September 15, 2024
Gautham, Maini’s father, confirmed to PTI that his son is doing fine. “He is doing okay. As part of the standard protocol all medical checkups were conducted on Kush and all reports are normal,” PTI quoted Maini’s father as saying. The race was ultimately won by Richard Verschoor (Netherlands) of Trident. Maini, who represents Invicta Racing in his second F2 season, stands 11th in the standings.
Maini handed penalty post-race – Why exactly?
When the investigation of the incident took place, the stewards found Maini at fault and handed the Indian racer a 10-second time penalty for “causing” the collision. A statement from F2 revealed that Maini “failed to engage the Start Set Up Procedure” which led to the crash.
“After the race, the Stewards heard from the Team Representative and examined available video evidence before determining that the driver of Car 9 had failed to engage the Start Set Up Procedure for the start of the race, an error that led to the car stalling on the grid causing the subsequent collision.
“The Stewards determined that because of this, Maini was wholly responsible for the collision and, as a result, elected to hand him a 10-second time penalty. With Maini not finishing the Feature Race, his time penalty has been converted into a five-place grid penalty,” the Formula 2 statement read. Meanwhile, Maini will serve the handed penalty in the next race.
It is noteworthy that safety has drastically improved in motorsport over the last two decades but it still remains dangerous. Formula 2 driver Anthoine Hubert passed away at the mere age of 22, after sustaining grave injuries following an accident at Belgium’s iconic Spa Francorchamps circuit in 2019.
Another racer Jules Bianchi, who was only 25, died after a collision with a recovery vehicle during the F1 Japanese Grand Prix back in 2014. After the fatal accident, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) introduced a head-protecting device on all Formula 1 cars.
After surviving a near-fatal car crash, Kush Maini was handed a 10-second time penalty for “causing” the collision during the start of the F2 feature race at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday. What’s the case? Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
