Haas have strengthened their young driver pool by retaining Arjun Maini in the role of development driver, alongside Santino Ferrucci, for 2018.

Maini joined Haas last season, the Indian dovetailing his F1 duties with a first full season in GP3, where he ended up ninth in the drivers’ championship.

This term, he will move up to F2 – Formula 1’s feeder series – partnering Ferrucci at Team Trident while attending races and tests throughout the year with Haas.

“Arjun enjoyed a breakout season in GP3 last year and we’re keeping a close watch on his progress this year in F2,” said Haas Team Principal Guenther Steiner.

“He has a history of finding success at every level in which he’s competed and we’re supportive of his efforts as he steps up to F2.”

Maini said the deal means he is “one step closer to my goal of competing in F1”.

He added: “Being involved with an F1 programme has really accelerated my learning in terms of what I need to do on the racetrack and with my engineers. In fact, it’s already helped me transition from GP3 to F2.”

Maini, who set the quickest time on the second day of this month’s F2 test, will make his debut in the series at the season opener in Bahrain on April 7-8.