Kush Maini said that hitting standing water at Turn 5 on the Circuit Zandvoort caused the high-speed first-lap accident that took him, Jak Crawford and Campos Racing teammate Ralph Boschung out of this weekend’s FIA Formula 2 Sprint Race.

Maini, who started 11th but was 10th on track after pole-sitter Théo Pourchaire hit mechanical trouble, was battling with Jak Crawford, who started one place ahead, on the opening lap of a wet race.

The pair came together in Turn 5, sending both cars spinning across the circuit with damage.

Crawford hit the outside wall at Turn 6 on his own, while Maini was collected by an unsighted Boschung, who launched the Indian driver’s car into the air.

Maini’s car landed on top of Boschung’s as the two Campos cars came to rest at the barrier outside Turn 6. That brought out the safety car and then the red flag at the end of Lap 2.

The race was restarted about 30 minutes later but was quickly red-flagged again and then declared official once it became clear that conditions would not improve. No drivers were awarded points.

In an interview with InsideF2 a few hours after the accident, Maini said he was “a bit sore” but otherwise had “nothing serious at all” in terms of injury.

Explaining the crash, he said, “I made a move on Jak. Obviously, we had one lap under the safety car, so we didn’t know where all the puddles were and stuff.

“I was side by side with Jak going into one of the quick lefts. We were close racing and I unfortunately hit a patch of standing water, which completely threw my car to the side.

“Obviously a scary crash, couldn’t see much – I didn’t even know where the edge of the track was. Glad everyone’s okay; that’s the main thing.

“Obviously the stewards, they know that maybe with this track, especially with the narrow turns with the spray, you just don’t know where you’re going.”

The stewards decided not to take any further action on either Maini or Crawford for the incident, noting that “the cars in front, in particular Car 7 ([Frederik] Vesti) were throwing significant spray creating marginal visibility for the drivers who had yet to come to grips with the conditions.”

As Maini explained, “Normally you can’t see anything, but in this track, there’s so many narrow turns and all really quick, so if there is a patch of standing water, you haven’t had time to check them out.

“So obviously coming blind into Lap 1 flat out, side by side with Jak, and I unfortunately hit it and completely aquaplaned off,” Maini said.

“[I] really feel bad for the team. Unfortunately, Ralph collected me and [there’s] a lot of work now, but I think we will be fine for tomorrow.”

The Campos team were still carrying out repairs late into the evening. The rear of Maini’s car was in tatters, but inspections by Dallara personnel on site shortly after the race was halted determined that his chassis did not need to be replaced.

“My tub was okay,” Maini confirmed. “It was inspected and it was fine, so [we] just need to change the gearbox and a couple other things. It’s a long process, but we should have both cars on the grid.”

Maini and Boschung are set to line up 11th and 15th respectively for Sunday’s Feature Race.

Image: Formula Motorsport Ltd