Haas has confirmed an unchanged young driver line-up for the new season, with American Santino Ferrucci also retained this week. Maini was signed to Haas for last year the same weekend he won his first race in GP3, where he went on to finish ninth in the championship last year.

This year Maini will move up to Formula 2, the series directly below F1. The Haas youngsters will be teammates at Team Trident this season.

Haas team boss Guenther Steiner said: "Arjun enjoyed a breakout season in GP3 last year and we're keeping a close watch on his progress this year in F2. 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."

Haas has already assisted Maini with the transition from GP3 to F2 and the Indian youngster is excited to see the next step in the process.

"I'm extremely proud to be a part of Haas F1 Team," Maini said. "Being involved with an F1 program 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. I'm one step closer to my goal of competing in Formula One thanks to Haas F1 Team's support."