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Category: F2
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Jehan to start P3 in the Sprint race: F2
Monte Carlo, 27 May 2022: Jehan Daruvala, the Indian racing star qualified fourth fastest in Group B and will start the Sprint race on Saturday in P3 but he will end up in P8 for the Feature race on Sunday in the Formula 2 World Championship held at the famous F1 Circuit here along with the F1 race.
“We had the pace and it was anybody’s pole today. We were right up there in terms of pace but unfortunately for us, there was a Red flag in the end but I am glad that Jake is ok. Now I want to put my head down for the races and go for it,” said Jehan Daruvala after the qualification session.
Qualifying report
Liam Lawson set the fastest time in Qualifying around the streets of Monte Carlo, narrowly beating out Ayumu Iwasa by just 0.059s. Championship leader Felipe Drugovich hit the wall on his final effort but remained third-quickest in Group A. Meanwhile, ART Grand Prix’s Théo Pourchaire topped Group B with a 1:21.535 and will start from second.
Drugovich had been fighting with Lawson as both traded fastest sector times throughout the first segment. The Brazilian was quickest up until Group A’s final efforts, when a slide out of the final corner on what could have been his fastest lap resulted in contact with the wall. Lawson improved and finished his lap to go fastest in the first group.
A slow burn in Group B followed but a red flag in the final minute prevented any last-gasp improvements. A crash for Van Amersfoort Racing’s Jake Hughes at the Swimming Pool chicane ended the session prematurely. It meant that Pourchaire’s penultimate attempt was good enough for the top spot in the second group.
GROUP A
Lawson led the first group out onto the track with conditions looking perfect for Qualifying. All 11 drivers ventured out on scrubbed tyres before boxing after a few exploratory laps for fresh supersofts.
Drugovich set the first representative lap with a 1:21.795s for the rest to beat. Ralph Boschung got closest, just 0.064s down. The former was conservative on his first effort but found improvements across all sectors on his subsequent lap, lowering his session-topping time to a 1:21.348s. Boschung on the other hand radioed into his team that he had tagged the wall on his next lap, bending the steering and leaving him sixth with the final laps to go.
The Championship leader pushed for his third and final lap, setting a session-best middle sector but just a few hundred metres from the line, tagged the wall in the final corner forcing him to pull over. Lawson kept it out of the barriers, finished his lap and improved to go fastest with a 1:21.229s. Iwasa also improved his time to go second in his group.
GROUP B
Logan Sargeant was the first out in Group B for the installation laps. The first of the proper efforts began to filter in with seven minutes remaining. Sargeant’s 1:22.230s was the time to beat heading into the last part of the session.
Roy Nissany edged ahead on his first flying lap, a 1:22.178s put him first with five minutes remaining. Hughes was the next to go fastest, even if he scraped along the barriers at the final corner on the way to the line. Moments later Jehan Daruvala put his PREMA Racing car on top with a 1:21.928s.
Enzo Fittipaldi improved with three minutes left to go as the track continued to rubber in and drivers began to take more risks. Jüri Vips was then quickest but only for a matter of seconds as Théo Pourchaire pipped him by 0.083s ahead of the final minute.
The final set of laps wouldn’t arrive though as Hughes suffered a crash through the Swimming Pool chicane, bringing out the red flags and with so little time left on the clock, the session wasn’t resumed. Clipping the wall on corner entry, the front wing bounced him into the wall and out of the session.
With the aggregated results taken from the sessions, Lawson will line up on pole ahead of Pourchaire with Iwasa alongside Vips on the second row. Drugovich will be fifth followed by Fittipaldi. Doohan is seventh ahead of Daruvala. Marcus Armstrong and Hughes round out the top 10.
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Jehan Daruvala suffers early retirement: F2
Barcelona, 22 May 2022: Indian racing star, Jehan Daruvala of Prema Racing team endured a tough weekend as he was forced to retire in the F2 Feature Race held along with the Formula 1 race on Sunday.
The Red Bull Junior who had to pull out just after four laps said: “I am gutted today. Our strategy today was the right one. Nevertheless we move on and come back stronger.”
Race Report
Felipe Drugovich made it two wins from two in Barcelona, winning the Feature Race after his Sprint Race success on Saturday. The MP Motorsport driver made it look simple from 10th on the grid, extending his first stint on soft tyres longer than anyone else before catching and passing Jack Doohan for the win on track.
The Virtuosi Racing driver did everything right, but his early stop left him on tyres five laps older than the Brazilian’s. His first podium of the 2022 F2 season will offer some comfort heading into Monaco. Frederik Vesti made his best F2 qualifying result count and the ART Grand Prix driver completed the podium in third.
Logan Sargeant was able to just about hold onto fourth from Clément Novalak, who made the alternative strategy work brilliantly for P5. Enzo Fittipaldi and Marcus Armstrong were the others that followed him with the late mandatory stop, while Théo Pourchaire, Liam Lawson and Roy Nissany rounded out the top 10.
AS IT HAPPENED
Doohan got a good launch from pole and Vesti made great use of the clean side of the grid to jump Jüri Vips for P2. Pourchaire struggled to get his soft tyres working and lost position to Drugovich on the opening lap.
Jehan Daruvala was the lead driver on the hard compound tyres but was forced to defend hard from Ayumu Iwasa. That defence ended on lap 3 when the Indian driver came to a halt on the circuit, and Iwasa couldn’t avoid him in time and clipped his front wing. He was in at the end of the lap for a new nosecone as the Safety Car was deployed to recover Daruvala’s stranded PREMA Racing car.
Racing resumed on lap 7 and Doohan was able to keep Vesti at bay. Vips was in at the end of the lap for his mandatory stop and switch to the hard compound tyres. His stop wasn’t the quickest and he lost position to Jake Hughes.
Vesti was called in on lap 11 and his stop ran smoothly, keeping him ahead of Sargeant in theoretical P2. Doohan remained out on track until lap 12 when he was in to cover off his closest rivals who had already stopped, but MP Motorsport opted to keep Drugovich on track to extend his first stint. Vips’ struggles continued as Calan Williams relegated the Hitech Grand Prix driver down to 15th at Turn 1 on lap 16.
The moment to pit arrived on lap 18 for Drugovich, who had managed to extend the stint on softs longer than anyone else in the field. The gap to Doohan was 29.6s as he pitted, and he rejoined in 9th position, de-facto third on the conventional strategy behind Doohan and Vesti.
Fittipaldi led the way on the alternative strategy, just over a second clear of Novalak in first and second respectively on the road after Drugovich’s stop.
Entering lap 20, Drugovich got a double tow on both and moved himself up to seventh place. The gap to Doohan at the line on lap 21 was 2.6s, albeit with Caldwell in between them.
Novalak had passed Fittipaldi by the time the duo pitted for their mandatory stop on lap 24. Marcus Armstrong was the sole-remaining car on the other strategy yet to pit, and Doohan put him between himself and Drugovich in quick order on the main straight.
Armstrong was passed by the Brazilian at Turn 10 while Novalak and Fittipaldi were 13th and 15th on re-joining the circuit but making progress towards the top 10.
Lap 26 and Drugovich had made it into DRS range of the race leader. The fresh tyres gave him plenty of grip against his rival and with a great run through the final chicane, he breezed by Doohan for the race lead into Turn 1.
Novalak was clearing the traffic and eighth by lap 32 and followed by Fittipaldi and Armstrong, both on the same contra-strategy. P8 became P7 for the Frenchman on lap 33 as he slipstreamed his way by Williams with DRS.
One lap later and Novalak launched a late dive on Lawson for sixth. With much better tyres, he sliced up the inside of the Carlin driver at Turn 4 to take the place. Lap 35 and Novalak passed Pourchaire, while Fittipaldi cleared Lawson and Armstrong moved by Williams in synchronised moves by those on the alternate strategy.
The moves were repeated by Fittipaldi and Armstrong on Pourchaire and Lawson to move up to sixth and eighth, and the Hitech driver cleared the ART man on the same lap to take seventh.
Out in front though, Drugovich was in cruise control, extending the gap to Doohan and leaving the rest well behind. He extended his Championship advantage with the win but an investigation into whether his pit stop procedure was fully compliant with the regulations hangs over his victory. KEY QUOTE – Felipe Drugovich, MP Motorsport “An amazing, amazing weekend here. I’m really thankful to the team especially, they did an amazing job. The problem we had in Qualifying, to come back and win both races is just something I could not imagine. I’m really happy.”
THE CHAMPIONSHIP VIEW
Drugovich’s dominance in Barcelona has helped him into a 26-point lead in the F2 Drivers’ Championship. Pourchaire remains second on 60 points with Daruvala narrowly ahead of Lawson and Armstrong, who moves himself up into the top five. MP Motorsport made the tyres work for them and extended their points tally at the top of the Teams’ Standings to 108 points. It was a double score for ART who remained second with 85, while Carlin sit in third with 73 points.
WHAT NEXT
Formula 2 is back in action immediately, this time around the iconic streets of Monaco between May 26-29.
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Jehan Daruvala to start on P3 for Sprint race: F2
Barcelona, 20 May 2022: The next Indian racing prospect for F1, Jehan Daruvala, qualified in fourth on Friday but the Red Bull Junior and Prma Racing driver will start on P3 with the grid penalty to polesitter.
Felipe Drugovich will start tomorrow’s Barcelona Sprint Race from fourth on the grid instead of pole position after being handed a three-place grid penalty following Qualifying.
The sanction was handed out to the Brazilian for impeding his title rival Théo Pourchaire in the closing minutes of the session. The ART Grand Prix driver complained to his team that Drugovich had impeded him on the exit of Turn 1 on his final flying lap.
Qualifying Report
Leaving his best till last in Qualifying, Virtuosi Racing’s Jack Doohan stormed his way to a second pole position in Formula 2. The Aussie managed to hold off an extremely late charge from Hitech Grand Prix’s Jüri Vips, which saw the Estonian driver leap up from last to second and ahead of ART Grand Prix’s Frederik Vesti in third.
The session got underway with only 21 drivers taking part, as Campos Racing’s Ralph Boschung withdrew from the event after suffering with neck pain, which he sustained during the third round in Imola.
Despite the early evening timing, nailing their preparation laps and getting the soft Pirelli tyres in their ideal operating window was going to be a vital factor as temperatures remained around 39.9°C – all while jostling for position around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Carlin’s Liam Lawson was quick out of the blocks, becoming the first driver to set a representative lap. His time of 1:30.753 was immediately beaten by his teammate Logan Sargeant, before Théo Pourchaire and Marino Sato jumped to the top of the timing sheets in quick succession.
Jehan Daruvala then set the benchmark to go fastest with a 1:29.512. Whilst most of the grid clocked in a lap time early on, Marcus Armstrong, Doohan, Felipe Drugovich and Richard Verschoor decided to use the alternative strategy and wait for quieter conditions during the mid-point of the session.
Taking advantage of the empty track, Drugovich went aggressive and threw his MP Motorsport car into the final chicane to go three-tenths clear of Daruvala. However, that time wasn’t destined to last for long as Doohan clocked in a 1:29.147 to pip the Brazilian by 0.043s.
All eyes then turned to the PREMA Racing duo, as Daruvala regained the top spot by over two-tenths of a second and Hauger climbed up into fourth. As the pair hopped out of their cars, their rivals’ weekends rested on their performance in the dying minutes of the session. It was Doohan who made the most of it to snatch provisional pole with a 1:28.612. Vesti also benefitted from the late running, shooting up from 17th to second.
There was one driver left who could deny Doohan the two points for pole – Vips, who was back behind the wheel of the Hitech following his Formula 1 Free Practice debut earlier in the day. Getting over the line just in the nick of time, the last-placed driver pushed it to the limit, but it wasn’t enough to overhaul the Virtuosi’s time, crossing the line 0.023s slower and finishing the session P2.
Daruvala eventually had to settle for fourth, ahead of Sargeant and Iwasa. Pourchaire ended the session seventh-fastest with Van Amersfoort Racing’s Jake Hughes in eighth. Calan Williams put in another promising performance for Trident to qualify in ninth, as Drugovich rounded out the top 10.
The Brazilian will line up on reverse grid pole for Saturday’s Sprint Race when the lights go out at 5:40PM local time.
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Jehan Daruvala 2nd fastest in practice session: F2
Barcelona, 20 May 2022: Star Indian racer and Red Bull Junior Jehan Daruvala, clocked the second fastest time in the practice session on Friday.
Jehan, finished second fastest with a 1:31.369, trailing Felipe Drugovich by four tenths.
F2 visited Barcelona for in-season tests just last month but temperatures then were vastly different to conditions facing drivers this weekend.
Having gathered data that is now worth less due to the drastic difference in track and ambient temperatures, the Indian showed enough pace to go into Saturday’s sessions. Jehan is the only driver who has taken a podium in all the three rounds held till now.
Felipe Drugovich led the way in Formula 2 Free Practice after multiple red flag stoppages curtailed running ahead of Qualifying. The MP Motorsport driver was almost a full half-second clear of the pack, with Jehan Daruvala and Logan Sargeant his closest challengers 0.4 and 0.5s behind him.
Olli Caldwell and Marcus Armstrong both brought out red flags during the session, with the Campos Racing driver hitting the wall at Turn 9. Meanwhile, Armstrong became beached in the gravel at Turn 4 as drivers struggled for grip under the midday sun.
Championship leader Théo Pourchaire was out first for an immediate installation lap but there was no rush to get out on track for anyone. The Van Amersfoort Racing duo of Jake Hughes and Amaury Cordeel set the initial times to beat with the latter’s 1:32.609 the fastest time of the early lappers.
Just as the circuit began to fill up, a red flag was thrown for Olli Caldwell, who hit the barriers on the exit of Turn 9 on his first flying lap. The Campos driver was able to get out of the car himself after losing the rear end mid-corner and nosing into the barriers.
After the brief stoppage, the session resumed with 26 minutes remaining and a long train of cars led by Frederik Vesti returned to the circuit. Marcus Armstrong was one of the first drivers to get onto a push lap, but he brought out the red flags for the second time in Free Practice.
The Hitech Grand Prix driver dropped the rear of his car at Turn 4 and spun into the gravel after setting the fastest first sector time of the session. Agonisingly for the Briton, he couldn’t get back onto track and his car had to be recovered by the marshals.
The session was back to green flag conditions with just over 16 minutes remaining and there was a rush to get out to make up for the lost time. The timing screens lit up immediately with purple sector times, but it was Dennis Hauger who topped the times after the first flying laps with a 1:31.707.
Felipe Drugovich had gone well during in-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya earlier this year and the Brazilian carried on from where he’d left off, going eight-tenths faster than Hauger on his first lap.
Another wide moment at Turn 4 brought out some brief yellow flags courtesy of Daruvala. He was able to keep his momentum going to escape the gravel trap and continue his session. He made amends quickly, going second-fastest on his next lap and ahead of his PREMA Racing teammate.
Logan Sargeant, Jack Doohan, Jüri Vips and Ayumu Iwasa each were able to improve their times to bump Hauger down the order to ninth. Liam Lawson was able to make his way up the order, with consecutive laps taking him sixth and then fifth by the chequered flag. Pourchaire ended the session eight-fastest with Trident’s Calan Williams rounding out the top 10.
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Maini brothers Arjun and Kush get ready for week-end
Bengaluru, 20 May 2022: The Formula 1 race week-end beginning today will see three top Indian racers in action. While top star Jehan Daruvala, considered as the next top Indian to be ready for F1, and younger of the Maini brothers, Kush Maini will be racing in F2 and F3 competitions respectively.
Meanwhile, the eldest of the Bangalore-based brothers, Arjun Maini, who switched to GT racing last year, now competes in the DTM series. Entering his second season in the pan European championship, Arjun now races with team HRT in the #36 Mercedes-AMG. Last year Arjun told this reporter that F1 is no more his target as he switched focus to endurance racing, and he loves it as much as he did the other form of sport. “I have developed a passion for endurance racing and I am enjoying it,” he said at Meco Kartopia, on the sidelines of karting Nationals.
Kush is still working his way up to Formula 1 and now races in FIA Formula 3 in the #12 MP Motorsports car. The brothers will, for the first time in 2022, compete simultaneously this weekend with Arjun racing at the Lausitzring in Germany and Kush in Barcelona as a support race for this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix.
The DTM Championship has changed significantly and features a record line up of 29 Drivers with iconic brands, such as Mercedes-AMG, Audi, BMW, Porsche, McLaren, Lamborghini and Ferrari, now locked in a seven-way championship battle for the Manufacturers’ title. The Competition in the series has gone up a few notches with the qualifying and racing action now closer than ever before as experienced at the first round at Portimão. The field is stacked with talent, with multiple World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb the latest in a long line of motorsport legends to try his hand in the series.
Despite finishing the season strongly with his first podium finish at the famed Norisring circuit, Arjun had a difficult start to the season in Portugal, but clearly found the pace in the second race where he made 12 positions after starting 25th.
“I am looking forward to racing at the Lausitzring again, especially because of the banked turn one corner,” Arjun commented ahead of the weekend.
“It makes the circuit very exciting and different and is a really distinctive feature for a European circuit. I was really quick here last year, but did not get the results I wanted. So, I want to make sure to get some decent results this year.
“We have been working hard since Portimão and I am confident that the team will provide me with a good car to fight for positions. Let’s see how it goes. I want to thank OSM (Omega Seiki Mobility) for supporting me for a second year.”
Kush meanwhile faces a completely different challenge in Barcelona. The younger of the two brothers spent a bulk of 2021 on the sidelines after two strong seasons in the BRDC Formula 3 Championship (now GB3) where he finished third and second in the championship respectively. Kush is now racing for MP Motorsport in the FIA F3 championship, where he faces the unenviable task of competing against 30 of the world’s best junior drivers while being scrutinized by several prominent F1 scouts.
Kush, who is currently 13th in the championship, will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of his elder brother, who became India’s first GP3 Series (the forerunner to FIA F3) race winner at the same venue in 2017.
“I’m looking forward to the upcoming weekend in Barcelona,” Kush said in the lead-up to his race in Spain.
“The Barcelona circuit is one of my favourites on the calendar, and I’m hoping to bring home some good points at the end of the weekend. We definitely have the pace to fight in the front, and with a little more luck, I believe we’d be higher up in the standings.
“Obviously, I’d like to emulate what Arjun did here, but for the time being, I’m keeping my head down and working with the team to maximize the car’s performance.”
“I want to thank JK racing and OSM (Omega Seiki Mobility) for all the support they have given me.”
Despite competing in vastly different championships and stages of their careers, the brothers appear to be united by a desire to compete against the world’s best drivers. One thing is certain: both drivers will give it their all this weekend!
While the DTM championship will be broadcast live on Eurosport, the FIA Formula 3 championship will be broadcast live on Star Sports Select HD2 in India.
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Jehan misses victory but moves to third in title-hunt
Imola, 23 April 2022: India’s Jehan Daruvala only just missed out on victory on Saturday, with the Red Bull-backed racer coming away with a second-placed finish in the Sprint race of the Formula 2 championship’s Imola round.
The 23-year-old, who started third, rocketed off the line to slot into second behind Marcus Armstrong, who took the lead.
Jehan kept the position through an early safety car and then a subsequent Virtual Safety Car period before unleashing his pace.
Overtaking proved to be tricky on the narrow Imola track, Jehan crossed the line 1.4 seconds behind the Hitech driver. His Prema team mate Dennis Hauger was third, completing a double podium for the Italian team on home soil.
His second-place in Imola was Jehan’s third podium from as many rounds this season and 10th overall in Formula 2. It also lifted him to third in the overall drivers’ standings.
Jehan said about Race 1, “Firstly, I got off the line better than the guys at the front but because I had to avoid Logan I lost some momentum and couldn’t get Marcus. But after that the race wasn’t easy. I was trying to put him under a lot of pressure early on in the race but it was really hard to follow especially in the middle sector. I had DRS but I was never quite close enough to mount an attack. I tried to cool down and give it a go at the end but again when I got closer I really struggled to follow. All in all we had great pace but couldn’t really use it much.”
Jehan followed up his podium with a points-paying finish in the Feature race, with the Red Bull-backed racer showing blistering pace to bounce back from an ill-timed safety car. Despite the safety car misfortune, Jehan remained unfazed and proved he had the pace to win.
Having started eighth, Jehan moved into the lead on lap 9, reeling off a series of consecutive fastest laps. He stayed in the lead for more than half the race and charged back up to ninth, after his pitstop had dropped him down to 14th. He also had the fastest lap of the race.
Jehan is the only driver to have to have finished on the podium in every round this season, and is also the lead Red Bull Junior in the standings.
The fourth round of the Formula 2 championship will be held at Spain’s Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya from May 20th to May 22nd, alongside the Formula One Spanish Grand Prix.
About Jehan Daruvala
Jehan Daruvala is a racing driver from Mumbai, India. He began karting at the age of 10 in 2009. Two years later, he was picked as one of the three winners of Force India’s ‘One From a Billion’ talent hunt. In 2013, he became the first Asian to win the British KF3 karting championship. A proven winner, Jehan has won in every category he has competed in. He is currently racing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, which is a feeder series to Formula 1 and takes place on the same weekends. Already a multiple winner in the category, Jehan’s goal for the 2022 season is to claim the title which would boost his chances of becoming only the third Indian on the Formula One grid.
Picture credits – Prema Racing
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Daruvala reflects on positive three-day F2 test at Barcelona
Jehan Daruvala speaks on a positive three-day FIA Formula 2 (F2) Championship test at Barcelona with Prema Team.
By Darshan Chokhani
Barcelona, 15 Aprill 2022: Following the completion of the two rounds of the 2022 F2 season, the teams had a three-day in-season test at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya before the third round to take place next weekend at Imola.
The first day saw Daruvala end up 15th in the standings after setting the best time of 1m29.909s with 51 laps done. Teammate and fellow Red Bull driver Dennis Hauger (1m30.439s) was 19th with 52 laps done.
The second day saw Daruvala in 10th with a best time of 1m30.057s lap where he did 64 laps in all, whereas teammate Hauger (1m30.169s) was 13th with 62 laps in his kitty. The day saw damp conditions in afternoon.
The final day had Hauger finish ahead of Daruvala, with the Norwegian completing 48 laps to be fifth after setting a 1m27.945s lap. At the same time, Daruvala was seventh with a best time of 1m28.019s and 52 laps.
“We got three good days overall in Barcelona with the tyres we had,” said Daruvala. “We had two options and six primes, so when the track conditions were closer to what we will have for the weekend, we used options.
“The pace was there on both the long and short runs, and the car felt good. Compared to Jeddah, it’s completely different for everyone. There is going to be a lot of degradation when we come back here, and it’s going to be interesting. I think we learned a lot over the last few days and it will definitely help us for the weekend.”
Teammate Hauger added: “Day 1 was quite messy overall, but in the other days I feel we made great steps, both on me for the driving and in terms of our feel with the car and everything.
“Then the engine broke down in the last afternoon, but driving wise, in performance mode we managed a good step, which is a confidence boost ahead of the next round. We also had something tested out and that is good as well. Overall, a lot of positive things to take away into the next rounds.”
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Jehan Daruvala gets second podium from 14th to P3: F2
Jeddah, March 28, 2022: India’s Jehan Daruvala raced to his second podium finish of the season with a fighting drive from 14th to third in Sunday’s Formula 2 Feature race at Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
The 23-year-old from Mumbai, began his weekend on the back foot after a mechanical issue hampered him in qualifying.
But the Red Bull-backed racer used a mix of race craft, strategy and tyre management to claw his way up the order to third.
“It’s very satisfying,” said Jehan.
“Coming into this weekend I knew Prema had a really good car. I was really down after qualifying. But once we discovered that our lack of pace was down to a mechanical issue, it made me believe again.
“It was good damage limitation and honestly third was probably the maximum we could have had today.”
Jehan, who went from 13th to seventh in Saturday’s sprint race, earned his podium, his ninth in F2, with a mature drive.
He passed two cars off the line at the start, pulled off a bold pass around the outside of three cars into Turn 1 at one stage, and swept past fellow Red Bull junior Ayumu Iwasa on the start-finish straight.
He timed his one and only pitstop to perfection and used all his experience to keep his pace up, hunting down and passing Marcus Armstrong while managing tyre wear over a long second stint on the harder tyre.
Jehan leaves the Saudi Arabian round with a strong haul of points. He now heads to historic Imola for the next round of the season which will take place from April 22-24.
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Jehan Daruvala begins F2 season with a bang; 2nd in Sprint
Sakhir, 20 March 2022: India’s Jehan Daruvala opened his bid for the Formula 2 title with a second-placed finish in the Sprint race of the championship’s first round in Bahrain.
The 23-year-old from Mumbai, who races for Prema Racing and is a member of the Red Bull Junior Team, had started fourth after qualifying seventh under the championship’s reverse grid rules.
Jehan’s season-opening podium was founded on a good start. He was up to third straight away and, after fending off fellow Red Bull junior Liam Lawson in the Carlin, he set about in pursuit of second-placed Ralph Boschung.
The safety car was deployed on lap 3 to clear away the stranded Hitech of Marcus Armstrong.
It bunched up the field but Jehan, who took his first F2 win in Bahrain in 2020, held position, once again prevailing in a wheel-to-wheel battle with Lawson.
Red Bull Junior and Indian star Jehan Daruvala begins the season with a second in the F2 Sprint race at Sakhir on Sunday. A Prema Racing image He caught and passed Boschung on Lap 16 just before the race was interrupted for the second time by a Virtual Safety Car.
Boschung retook second as the race resumed. But Jehan seized the place back on the 18th lap with a bold move around the outside of the Swiss racer into the right-handed turn 4.
He crossed the line less than two seconds behind Verschoor.
Jehan said, “We definitely have a lot of positives to take. Finishing second in the first race of the year is a good start. I think we had the pace to fight for the win. Unfortunately, I mistimed the Virtual Safety Car restart which lost us a lot of time and eventually cost us the win. But overall we have a really good car and I’m quite pleased with our start to the season.”
Jehan now heads into Sunday’s feature race, which he will start from seventh, where he qualified. He is hoping for another strong result to round out an encouraging season-opening weekend.
He is eyeing a step up to F1 in 2023, which would make him only the third Indian to compete in motorsport’s top tier.
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Jehan Daruvala qualifies P7; to start P4 in the Sprint: F2
Sakhir, 18 March 2022: Indian racing star Jehan Daruvala qualified P7 in the qualifying session today and will start P4 in the Sprint race on Saturday. The Prema Racing driver clocked 1:41.115.
Virtuosi Racing rookie Jack Doohan took an emphatic first pole position of the year in Formula 2, utilizing an almost empty track to set a 1:40.542, when the majority of the field were busy in the pitlane changing their tyres.
ART Grand Prix’s Théo Pourchaire and Hitech Grand Prix’ Jüri Vips attempted to beat the Australian’s time in the second half of the session, but both felt short and had to settle for second and third, respectively.
The Australian’s effort means that a Virtuosi driver has taken pole in the opening round three seasons in a row, with Guanyu Zhou achieving the feat in 2020 and 2021.
All 22 cars emerged from the pitlane when the lights went green, but the session was red-flagged before they’d all made it out on the tarmac as Ayumu Iwasa’s DAMS came to a halt, forcing a stoppage as the marshals wheeled it off the track and out of the session.
The remaining 21 cars fed out onto the track when the session resumed, led by Van Amersfoort Racing duo Jake Hughes and Amaury Cordeel, who had seen their F3 counterpart Franco Colapinto take pole in the third tier earlier on Friday.
Looking to make it two VAR drivers on pole, Hughes was sat in P1 after the first set of flying laps, setting a cool 1:41.469 to lead Doohan. The British driver remained there after the second lot of fast lap, this time beating the morning’s quickest man, Felipe Drugovich.
PREMA had yet to set a representative time and opted to run their pairing in the gap, with Jehan Daruvala emerging in fifth, while Hauger had to settle for P13. Doohan had also decided to make the most of the empty track and delivered a statement lap, launching to first by more than half a second thanks to two purple sectors.
1:40.542 had become the time to beat as those who had gone into the pits at the halfway point returned to the tarmac with a fresh pair of soft Pirelli boots.
Vips was the only driver to come close to Doohan on the first run of the second set of tyres, but the Hitech racer’s effort was only good enough for second, as he fell two tenths short of the Australian.
Pourchaire briefly put himself on the front row but saw his time deleted for exceeding track limits. Dusting himself off, the ART Grand Prix driver went again and matched his previous effort, going second once again, one-tenth off P1, to push Vips down to third.
There was still time to be found in the final minutes as Ralph Boschung put his Campos in fifth between the two Carlin drivers, with Logan Sargeant in fourth and Liam Lawson in sixth.
Daruvala left it late, but the Red Bull junior returned to the track with just enough time to spare and found the pace for seventh.
After leading for much of the session, Hughes had fallen to eighth at the flag, which still marked a solid effort for VAR on their debut. Richard Verschoor earned Trident a spot in the top 10, taking ninth, with Drugovich ending Qualifying in 10th.
The Brazilian MP Motorsport racer will start from pole on Saturday evening’s reverse grid at 7.40pm local time.
