Maini saw off Invicta Racing team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto by 1m48.814s to score the first two points of the F2 season.
In the end, pole position was secured by what on paper looked like a relatively comfortable margin of 0.219s, but this was far from the case with the order shuffling considerably as each driver crossed the line.
Taylor Barnard was one of the few drivers that was able to keep his tyres in the window for two laps, and improved in the final moments to secure 10th and pole position for the season-opening reverse-grid sprint on Friday.
Jak Crawford narrowly avoided being the first driver to cause a red flag in a qualifying session this season after suffering a spin at Turn 2 on his first flying lap. Spinning the rears up while, the American was unable to catch the rear of his car but crucially kept the engine going.
Following his continuation, the stewards began an investigation into his rejoin, believing it was potentially unsafe.
Maini set the early pace with a 1m42.533s from Dennis Hauger (MP Motorsport), with the former seemingly coming out of nowhere after being only 12th in practice.
Source: Autosport