Maini started his single-seater career in 2016, competing for BVM Racing in the Italian F4 Championship.[2] His campaign started in a strong fashion, scoring points in the first six races of the year. After a difficult middle part of the year, the Indian scored his first podium in car racing, taking third place at the final race in Vallelunga. He finished the season 16th in the standings and ended up fifth in the rookies' championship.[3]
In 2018 the Indian driver stepped up to the British Formula 3 Championship with Lanan Racing.[6] The season ended up being a breakthrough year, winning the reversed-grid race at Rockingham,[7] and scoring seven further podiums, which meant that Maini would end up third in the standings.[8]
2019
The following year, Maini switched to the Formula Renault Eurocup with M2 Competition.[9] He hit the ground running with a podium in his first race at Monza, but was unable to replicate such result again throughout the season.[10] He was a consistent points scorer though, and came sixth in the standings with 102 points, as the second highest placed rookie.[11]
Maini began 2021 competing for new Indian outfit Mumbai Falcons in the F3 Asian Championship during the winter, partnering Formula 2 driver Jehan Daruvala.[18][19] He endured a tough start to the season, but a run of seven points finishes in the last nine races, including a podium at the last round in Abu Dhabi, moved him up to 11th place in the standings.[20]
He was unable to find a full-time drive for the main season, his sole other race of the year coming at the 6 Hours of Bahrain of the 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship, as a one-off replacement in ARC Bratislava's LMP2 squad.[21]
Maini progressed to the FIA Formula 3 Championship in 2022, driving alongside Caio Collet and Alexander Smolyar at MP Motorsport.[22] Maini was quoted as saying that he was "excited to join MP Motorsport for [his] first year in FIA F3", and that the team's results the previous year showed "their ability to coach rookie drivers on their way to immediately performing well in the series".[23] He started his season off by qualifying in third place in Bahrain, however Maini would be forced to start from the back of the grid for both races due to him missing the weighbridge during the session.[24][25] At the next round in Imola, Maini scored his first points of the season with a fifth-placed finish.[26] More points followed at Silverstone, where Maini lost out on the podium to Reece Ushijima in the sprint race.[27] Qualifying sixth in Hungary, Maini would experience his best weekend of the season.[28] He finished third on Saturday, after a mistake from Isack Hadjar ahead, thus scoring his only podium of the year.[29] He followed it up with seventh in the feature race.[30] However, this would end up being his final points finish of the year, as Maini ended up 14th in the drivers' standings with 31 points.[31]
In November 2022, Maini was confirmed to drive for Campos Racing in the 2023 F2 season,[32] also taking part in the 2022 Formula 2 post-season test at the Yas Marina Circuit.[33] He qualified sixth in the Bahrain season opener[34] He made a storming start in the feature race to second, but was later overtaken by teammate Ralph Boschung and late in the race by Zane Maloney, finishing fourth in the end.[35] Fifth place in the Jeddah sprint race boosting him as the highest rookie in the standings,[36] before securing his first and only podium in the Melbourne sprint race after scrapping with Arthur Leclerc.[37][38] He finished ninth in the feature race.[39]Baku was relatively superb, scoring a huge haul of points with a fourth and fifth place, lifting him to fifth in the standings early on.[40] The next round in Monaco started on a wrong note, being spun on the opening lap in the sprint. Nonetheless, a timely red flag salvaged his weekend, and was able to finish the feature race in sixth place, having not yet changed his tyres prior.[41]
However, Maini endured his first non-scoring round in Barcelona.[42] He too was also unable to in the following two rounds due to incidents and Campos' declining race pace, despite achieving top-4 in both qualifying sessions.[43][44] He returned to the points with sixth in the Budapest sprint race, despite starting on reverse pole.[45] In a chaotic Spa-Francorchamps feature race, Maini advanced to the points, with eighth place.[46] He returned to his qualifying form in Monza, securing sixth.[47] Finishing fifth in the sprint race, he was set for more in the feature race but retired after a collision with Jak Crawford, which broke the Indian driver's front wing.[48] Maini qualified third for the Yas Marina season finale.[49] After accruing a penalty for spinning out Juan Manuel Correa in the sprint,[50] he endured a scruffy feature race saw Maini slip down to ninth place as the chequered flag fell.[51]
Maini ended the season 11th in the drivers' standings, scoring 62 points and one podium, even finishing ahead of countryman and F2 veteran Jehan Daruvala.[52]
2024
For his second season in the category, Maini switched to Invicta Racing in 2024 alongside reigning Formula 3 champion and McLaren juniorGabriel Bortoleto.[53] Maini started the season in Bahrain with the fastest lap time in qualifying,[54][55] but was disqualified due to a technical infringement.[56] After finishing thirteenth in the sprint,[57] Maini starred in an impressive recovery drive in the feature race, making up fourteen places for seventh place.[58]
In October 2023, Maini was announced to be joining the Alpine Academy.[59] Maini experienced his maiden Formula One test at the Red Bull Ring, driving the Alpine A522 and describing it as "a dream come true".[60]
Over the following six months, Maini took part in further tests with Alpine at Imola, Yas Marina and Lusail.[61]
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