"I got a call literally from my idol" - Kush Maini on how 2x World Champion and former McLaren driver Mika Hakkinen became his mentor

Kush Maini will be mentored by former McLaren driver Mika Hakkinen and the former revealed that the opportunity came to fruition when his dad had a chat with the Finnish legend in Monaco.

Kush was forced to miss a year of competitive racing in 2021 and that did have an impact on his progress. The driver has since raced in Formula 3 in 2022 and Formula 2 in 2023.

The driver started the 2023 F2 season on a promising note, getting his first podium in Australia and finishing inside the top 5. Unfortunately, as the season has progressed, the fact that Kush Maini does not race for a front-running team took its toll as there were a few inconsistent performances that followed a strong early season run.

Even then, Kush has impressed in spurts whenever he had a chance and this was what caught the eye of former McLaren driver and two-time world champion Mika Hakkinen.

In an exclusive conversation with Sportskeeda, Kush Maini talked about how Mika was always his idol and the inception of him being a mentor started with a chat between the Finn and Kush's father.

Talking about how he and the former McLaren legend came together, Kush Maini said:

"Funny story actually, if you saw the interview that F2 put up, that interview was taken in Bahrain when they asked the drivers who their role models were and I had said Mika Hakkinen and he didn't know me at all and I had never spoken to him or whatever. Fast forward like four months and my dad ran into him in Monaco and Mika and my dad started sharing stories."

"Mika got really interested," he added. "He left, he did his background check. I think I was P4, P5 in the championship then. He did his background check, he did a lot of research and then obviously Mika came back and said he wanted to speak to me.

"So this was before Silverstone, I was in my hotel room after training at campus and I got a call literally from my idol and that was surreal."

Appreciating what the McLaren legend brings to the table, Kush Maini raved about how Mika Hakkinen is always available.

"And just, you know, he was always on the line. Like if I need to speak to him whenever he's always free for me. He always gives me the advice I need," he added.

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What is the McLaren legend's role in Kush Maini's development?

Kush Maini delved deeper into the role that Mika Hakkinen had in his career. The Indian racer talked about how Mika has focussed on building a team around Kush.

"Mika's role in my whole thing is obviously in the business side for sure," he said. "He's going to be present there but also just in creating a team because he knows what it takes to be a world champion. From him, the biggest advice to me till date is that you cannot be worrying about any other aspect in your life."

"The only thing you need to worry about is how to drive the car fast, that's your only worry," he added. "He's gonna basically create a team for me that's gonna take care of different aspects of my life so I can do the one I'm good at and race. That's his main motto. Other than that, it's just great to have someone like him. When someone like him believes in you, how can you not believe in yourself?"

Kush Maini is surely going to benefit from having Mika as a guiding light, the McLaren racer is a legend of the sport who knows his way around a car. He's surely going to be a valuable addition to the Indian racer's bid to reach Formula 1.