Maini admits having a difficult F3 season

It was a difficult weekend for Maini in Spielberg as the Indian finished 21st, 15th and 22nd in the three races respectively at the Red Bull Ring.

Having finished 15th in race two, the driver for Van Amersfoort Racing, scored two points in the rookie championship, which placed him at 10th position with 79 points.

Reflecting back on the weekend, Maini told Motorsport.com: "Overall, it was a tough weekend, since everything is so open, teams are quick on certain tracks and unfortunately, the last two rounds (Zandvoort and Spielberg) have not suited our car at all."

Maini had a competitive run in the second race of the weekend where he made up several places, but he also made contact with Tatiana Calderon on lap two at Turn 1, an incident that put the female racer at the back of the field.

"With respect the incident with Tatiana, I made a move and unfortunately she didn't see me in her mirrors and closed the door so we made contact," was Maini's view on the clash, which was deemed as a racing incident by the stewards.

Calderon, writing in her Motorsport.com column, gave her view on the incident: "I could see Alessio Lorandi and Michele Beretta fighting up ahead of me, and I thought to myself ‘if I get a great exit out of Turn 1, I could take them both!’

"That was when I was hit from behind – it looked like I spun on the TV pictures, but I had a lot of help."

Maini admits having a"difficult year" after some average results and "hopes for a better end to the season", which gets back under way at Portimao in September.