India's Kush Maini survives terrifying collision, faces post-race penalty

Indian driver Kush Maini on Sunday survived a horrifying crash after he stalled at the start of the feature race in Formula 2 a support race to Formula 1The scary incident occurred on the opening lap of the Formula 2 race which preceded the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand PrixThe 23yearold Indian had nowhere to go at the race start as his cars engine stopped working suddenly That left fellow drivers Josep Maria Marti and Oliver Goethe unsighted leading to a massive collisionThe crash at the start of Formula 2 that resulted in Kush Mainis DNF F2 AzerbaijanGPpictwittercomnmMBqNqO0Fmdash Desi Racing Co DesiRacingco September 15 2024The rear of Mainis car was totally destroyed by the impact of the crash and fortunately he came out of it unscathedMainis father Gautam confirmed to PTI that his son is doing fineHe is doing okay As part of the standard protocol all medical check ups were conducted on Kush and all reports are normal he saidMaini representing Invicta Racing in his second Formula 2 season is 11th in the standings The race was won by Richard Verschoor of TridentAlso Read Firstever Grand Prix win for Oscar PiastriFollowing the investigation of the incident the stewards handed the Indian a 10second time penalty for causing the collision 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 collisionThe Stewards determined that because of this Maini was wholly responsible for the collision and as a result elected to hand him a 10second time penalty With Maini not finishing the Feature Race his time penalty has been converted into a fiveplace grid penalty read a Formula 2 statementMaini will serve the penalty in the next raceSafety has improved drastically in motorsport over the past two decades but the sport remains dangerous Formula 2 driver Anthoine Hubert had succumbed to his injuries following an accident at the iconic Spa Francorchamps circuit in Belgium in 2019 The Frenchman was only 22Jules Bianchi who was only 25 had died following a collision with a recovery vehicle during the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix in 2014 The FIA had introduced Halo a head protecting device on all Formula 1 cars post the fatal accidentWith agency inputs