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Tag: F2
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Jehan Daruwala takes a superb Feature race win at Monza: F2
MONZA (Italy), 11 Sept. 2022: India’s Jehan Daruvala raced to his fourth Formula 2 win in the championship’s main Feature race at Italy’s Monza race track here on Sunday.
The 23-year-old started sixth on the grid but used a mix of strategy, race craft and tyre management to capitalise on a safety car and red flag-interrupted race and clinched a comfortable win around the hallowed ‘Temple of Speed’.
The win was Jehan’s first this season. It comes after the Red Bull-backed racer went from fifth to third in Saturday’s Sprint race, making it two podiums from two races for Jehan this weekend and eight this year.
It was also his sixth top-three finish at Monza and second win at the track after the Indian won there last year.
“What a weekend,” said Jehan. “It’s been a long time coming. We’ve had the win taken away from us for one reason or another on more than one occasion this year. But we’ve kept our heads down, kept believing, kept pushing and we’ve finally done it.
“And what a venue to do it at, too! Monza is up there with one of my all-time favourite tracks and standing on the top step of this incredible podium, out over the main straight with the Indian National Anthem playing out, feels so, so special.”
Jehan made a good getaway, but starting on the dirty side of the grid got bogged down after the initial start.
Nevertheless, he kept sixth as the field went through the first chicane but lost a place to Juri Vips as he lifted in anticipation of a safety car after an opening-lap shunt involving Ralph Boschung and Theo Pourchaire.
The safety car wasn’t deployed until later, however, and Jehan was forced to defend from Jack Doohan on the run to the second Roggia chicane.
The pair went wheel-to-wheel in the braking zone with Logan Sargeant making it three-wide into the chicane. Doohan, with Jehan on the inside and Sargeant on the outside had nowhere to go and ended up colliding with Jehan.
The Red Bull-backed racer however suffered only minor damage and carried on as the safety car was finally deployed.
Racing resumed at the end of Lap 5 with Jehan running seventh. But a crash for Calan Williams at the Ascari chicane brought the safety car back out on Lap 8.
Jehan seized the opportunity to pit, with the perfectly timed stop eventually moving him up to third once his other rivals had pitted.
That left him perfectly placed to battle for the win as the red flag was deployed to allow track workers to clear away Williams’ stranded Trident and carry out repairs to the barriers.
The race resumed after a ten-minute stoppage. Jehan went on to put on a masterclass of tyre management and race craft as he bided his time at first before piling the pressure on to race leader Richard Verschoor and second-placed Marino Sato.
He passed Sato on Lap 18 of 30 and was hot on Verschoor’s heels. But the Trident racer, struggling with tyre wear, dived into pits with just five laps to go, handing Jehan a lead he would keep until the chequered flag.
“This weekend’s result couldn’t have come at a better time as we now head to Abu Dhabi for the season-finale,” added Jehan.
“The Yas Marina track is another venue I like and I won there last year. So going there on the back of a weekend like this one gives us a major boost.”
The Formula 2 championship, which acts as a support series for Formula One, will have the chance for a bit of a break as F1 embarks on its Asian and American swing.
The championship will return for it’s last and final round of the season on the Nov. 18-20th weekend alongside the Formula One season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Picture Credits – James Gasperotti
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Hard-fought podium for Kush Maini: F3 Sprint
Budapest (Hungary), 30 July 2022: Indian racing ace Kush Maini earned a hard-fought podium as he took the third place in the FIA Formula3 Round 6 Sprint race here on Saturday. His MP Motorsport teammate won the race.
Caio Collet brought home his first win in Formula 3 in an impressive fashion, mastering the wet to drying conditions in a race of attrition that caught several of the title contenders out. Starting fourth, the MP Motorsport driver made his presence known, slicing his way through the field and up into the lead before driving off into the distance to finish 8.7s clear of second place Franco Colapinto, who fought hard to hold off the charging Brazilian until the third Safety Car appearance.
There would be plenty of celebrations for MP, as Kush Maini made it a double podium for the Dutch team having carved his way up from P7 to P3 at the chequered flag. Isack Hadjar couldn’t quite cling on to the podium, but fourth place was enough to see him usurp Victor Martins at the top of the Drivers’ Championship.
Oliver Bearman was the biggest beneficiary of a late squabble between his teammates Jak Crawford and Arthur Leclerc to seal fifth, ahead of Martins. Grégoire Saucy secured his first points since the opening round of the season in seventh, as Oliver Goethe kept himself out of trouble to achieve points on his debut. Trident added more points to their tally as Roman Stanek and Zane Maloney rounded out the top 10.
Kush Maini, left, celebrates with MP Motorsport team for the double podium. AS IT HAPPENED
Heavily predicted going into the Budapest weekend, the downpours finally began in the lead up to the race. If leading the pack on debut wasn’t enough of a challenge, Goethe faced a rolling start around a soaked Hungaroring. Bunching up the field, the white, black and orange Campos car couldn’t quite keep his car on the racing line and went wide into the final corner.
Not one to let an opportunity pass by, Goethe’s mistake allowed Colapinto to sit on his rear wing, slipstreaming along the pit straight and diving up the inside of the Monégasque driver. Experience paid dividends as Hadjar and Collet also swooped their way past him and up into second and third, as Crawford got the better of Martins up the inside of Turn 5 to move up into fifth.
No sooner had the racing started than it would swiftly ground to a halt, as David Vidales found the barriers between Turns 2 and 3 and the Safety Car was deployed at the end of the opening lap. Colapinto caught Hadjar napping on the restart, dropping the Hitech Grand Prix back into Collet’s clutches and the MP Motorsport driver wasted no time in diving around the outside of the silver car at Turn 1.
While Colapinto had the advantage of being out front, the pace appeared to be with the MP Motorsport car behind. Corner after corner, Collet tried to squeeze his way past the VAR driver, running out of grip into Turn 13 and despite selling the Argentinian the dummy down the inside of Turn 2, Colapinto’s valiant defence held firm as Collet failed to find a way through.
Although the track temperature continued to rise and the rain began to ease off, conditions were still a challenge for the field to overcome. Brad Benavides locked his brakes into Turn 1, running into the side of Jenzer Motorsport’s Ido Cohen to necessitate the return of the Safety Car on Lap 5.
Learning from his mistake earlier on, Hadjar was immediately alert on the restart, attempting to charge his way around the outside of both Colapinto and Collet. While he couldn’t move up into the lead, he did manage to repay the favour on the MP driver, recreating his overtake into Turn 1 to snatch second momentarily. The pair continued to swap and change positions when Colapinto closed the door on Hadjar, enabling Collet to swoop into second from under him.
In the fight for fourth, Maini was a man on a mission in the second MP Motorsport car, diving down the inside of Martins and then setting about putting Hadjar under pressure, while the leading duo began to pull away from the pack.
Martins’ morning got increasingly challenging and wet conditions led the Frenchman to make a run of errors. Going wide into the final corner left him vulnerable to the PREMAs behind, as Crawford squeezed past him along the main straight and forced him to go side-by-side with title rival Leclerc. Another wide moment on to the slippery run-off area proved costly as the Ferrari Driver Academy member sailed past him and up into fifth.
Out front, Colapinto continued to prove impossible for Collet to pass. However, a small mistake at Turn 2 gave the Alpine Academy junior the moment he had been waiting for to snatch the race lead on Lap 10. Now with a clear track up front, Collet put his foot to the floor and didn’t look back, giving himself plenty of breathing room with the gap up to 2.7s after only a single lap.
As the spray faded and the tyres waned, the race turned into survival of the fittest as the field attempted to conserve their wet Pirelli compounds to the chequered flag with five laps remaining. Nobody seemed to be immune – Leclerc’s moment of oversteer saw him take a hefty whack over the red and white kerbs at Turn 4, while Hadjar’s overly wide line off on to the run-off at Turn 13 gave Maini a chance to pounce.
The Indian driver had no hesitation in breezing past him at Turn 4 and forcing Hadjar to go on the defensive from fellow Red Bull junior Crawford. It was clear that the Frenchman’s tyres had fallen off their cliff as he slowly started to slip down the order behind Crawford and Leclerc and straight into Martins’ eyeline.
With his heart set on a maiden Formula 3 podium Maini refused to give up the fight, going side-by-side with Crawford on the penultimate lap as the MP Motorsport driver attempted to break the tow. Thankfully for him, the move paid off and the American driver dropped back, ultimately getting caught out in late drama and coming together with his teammate Leclerc.
Although he was able to continue, the damage was already done, and Leclerc found himself unable to turn left into Turn 13, drifting into Martins’ path.
While all the chaos unfolded behind, Collet cruised to his first victory in the third tier ahead of Colapinto and Maini. Hadjar hung on to fourth, as his teammates’ troubles benefited Oliver Bearman, who claimed fifth. Despite the contact, Martins crossed the line in sixth ahead of ART teammate Grégoire Saucy and newcomer Goethe. Trident’s Roman Stanek and Zane Maloney held off Reece Ushijima to take the final points in ninth and 10th, respectively.
KEY QUOTE – Caio Collet, MP Motorsport
“Really good day today! My first win in F3, I’m really, really happy. I think after yesterday the team deserved that one. Thanks a lot to them for the support this year, it’s been tough, but we got a win. We celebrate today and recover tomorrow.”
THE CHAMPIONSHIP VIEW
The pendulum has swung and for the first time this season, Isack Hadjar leads the Drivers’ Championship by one point to Victor Martins as 104 points play 103. The late incident has proved costly for Arthur Leclerc who drops back off the two Frenchmen in third on 91. Jak Crawford remains fourth, one point ahead of Roman Stanek.
PREMA Racing continue to lead the way in the Teams’ Championship on 226 points. The top three teams remain the same as ART Grand Prix hold firm in second ahead of Hitech Grand Prix. A 1-3 finish has allowed MP Motorsport to leapfrog Trident into fourth on 113 points.
WHAT’S NEXT?
It’s all to play for in the final Formula 3 race before the summer break and MP will have the chance at doing the double with Alexander Smolyar starting on pole – the lights go out for the Budapest Feature Race at 10:05 local time.
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Jehan’s rich haul with 2nd in Sprint & 7th in Feature race: F2
The 23-year-old leaves the Paul Ricard weekend with a strong haul of points
Le Castellet (France) 24 July 2022: Indian racer Jehan Daruvala scored his sixth podium of the season in the French round of the Formula 2 championship, as he left the Paul Ricard track with yet another strong points-scoring weekend.
Jehan started Saturday’s Sprint race from pole position and after a lightning start led into the first corner. He was comfortably holding his own at the front when an incident involving three cars brought out the safety car.
Jehan timed the restart to perfection, allowing him to open up a small gap to second-placed Liam Lawson. But the latter’s superior straight-line speed allowed him to close in.
It looked like it would only be a matter of time before Lawson used his car’s superior speed down the straights to get past Jehan and sure enough the Kiwi swept around the outside into Turn 1.
Jehan held his line but the pair touched which opened up a tear on Jehan’s front tyre. But he fortunately didn’t suffer a puncture.
A few laps later Marcus Armstrong attempted to pass Jehan for second at the same corner but on the inside. They made contact but Jehan, forced wide across the chicane, kept his position.
He had to slow down significantly, however, to give up any advantage he may have gained, which allowed Lawson to pull clear at the front.
Armstrong was handed a five-second penalty for forcing Jehan off the track
On Sunday, Jehan started the Feature race from 10th on the grid. But he fought his way up to seventh as a combination of strategy, which put Jehan in the lead before his stops, and blistering speed after his late switch to fresh tyres, saw him climb up the order.
Jehan said, “It’s good to be back on the podium after what happened in Silverstone and Austria. We were struggling with pace down the straights but had some good battles to finish 2nd. We would have finished even higher in the Feature race with our strategy to run a long first stint but we gambled on a safety car and stayed out a bit longer than ideal. Other than that, it was a solid weekend for us. We still have some areas to work on and I’m confident we’ll come back stronger next weekend in Hungary.”
Jehan’s second-place finish in France was his fifth this season. The 23-year-old, who races for Italian team Prema, was robbed of a potential fourth F2 victory by a post-race penalty in the last round in Austria.
The Red Bull-backed racer, who earlier this week completed a second Formula One test with McLaren, now heads to Hungary, the last round of a busy month of racing before the annual summer break.
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Harsh post-race penalty robs Daruvala of a ‘win’ in Austria
The 23-year-old was provisionally classified second but a 20-second penalty drops him down the classification
The Red Bull-backed racer was perfectly poised to inherit victory after provisional winner Verschoor was disqualified
SPIELBERG, 10 July 2022: Indian racer Jehan Daruvala put in a stirring drive from 11th to second in Sunday’s Formula 2 feature race in Austria but was robbed of his sixth podium of the season by a post-race penalty.
Jehan had finished a provisional second after an inspired strategy call to start the race on slick tyres on a damp track and searing pace from the Red Bull-backed racer in the tricky conditions saw him make rapid progress up the field.
But a 20-second time penalty, handed out after stewards deemed the Prema Racing team had attempted to dry the track surface at Jehan’s grid spot, negated his brilliant run.
The penalty was all the more disappointing as Jehan was briefly in with a chance of inheriting the race win after provisional winner Richard Verschoor was disqualified for a fuel irregularity.
Jehan said, “I’m absolutely gutted. All season luck has been against us and just when I thought things were finally going our way we get hit with a penalty.
We did everything right today. I was expecting a tough race from 11th on the grid and, while it was tricky, we read the conditions perfectly today. The team made the right strategy call on the tyres and I was able to maximise it with my pace in the wet. It’s difficult to find the positives after having a result we fought hard for taken away from us in this fashion. We could have taken big points off our rivals today but I can still take encouragement from my pace today. We now have a weekend off before the next run of back-to-back races and it’s now full focus on Paul Ricard and Budapest. We just need to keep pushing and I’m sure our day will come.”
Jehan’s pace in the changing conditions was formidable. He built up a sizeable gap and then timed his one and only pitstop to perfection, coming in on lap 13.
The penalty in Austria was the latest in a series of Sunday misfortunes that have cost Jehan a strong result in feature races this season.
An ill-timed safety car cost him a potential victory in Imola. In Barcelona an electrical problem sidelined Jehan on the fourth lap just when he was ideally placed to benefit from running the alternative strategy.
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Jehan Daruvala finishes 7th in Feature race: F2
Silverstone, 3 July 2022: Indian racer Jehan Daruvala endured a character-building weekend at the Silverstone round of the Formula 2 championship as he finished outside the top-three for only the second time in seven rounds but still came away with a double points finish.
The 23-year-old finished 8th in the Sprint and 7th in the Feature race respectively, taking home a total of seven points on a weekend of damage limitation for the lead Red Bull-backed racer in the standings.
Jehan started Saturday’s Sprint race from pole on a wet track and established a comfortable early lead. But the car, set up for mixed conditions, did not allow the wet weather tyres to be used to their optimum which led to them overheating and Jehan struggling for grip. Prema team mate Dennis Hauger, who finished 15th, suffered similarly.
Fired up to make amends in Sunday’s Feature race, Jehan, starting on the harder prime tyre, decided to play the long game. He looked after his tyres during the early stages of the race and, while briefly in the lead, unleashed his speed as his pitstop approached.
He continued lighting up the timing screens on the grippier option tyre as he fought his way back up the order.
Jehan showed strong pace all weekend. But getting a strong result in Sunday’s Feature race was always going to be an uphill task, with Jehan starting 10th after the qualifying strategy of setting one flying lap per tyre set did not work as most of his rivals found more pace on their second ‘push’ laps
Jehan said, “This wasn’t our weekend but that’s motor-racing sometimes. While I’m naturally disappointed, there are still positives that we can take away. The next race at the Red Bull Ring is only a week away. It’s a home race for us Red Bull juniors. We’ve shown both pace and consistency over the course of this season and I’m confident we can bounce back next weekend in Austria.”
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Jehan Daruvala claims second place in Sprint: F2
Monte Carlo, 28 May 2022: Indian racing star Jehan Daruvala of Prema Racing claimed second place behind his teammate in the FIA Formula 2 Championship here on Saturday.
“P2 in Monaco is a happy result. It feels great to be on the podium. A big congratulations to my team Prema Racing,” said Daruvala after the race.
PREMA Racing’s Dennis Hauger secured his first win in Formula 2 around the streets of Monte Carlo. The Norwegian capitalised on a stall by reverse pole-man Jake Hughes at lights out to assume the lead of the race and he never looked back. Jehan Daruvala made it a PREMA one-two, with Marcus Armstrong following closely behind to complete the podium.
Enzo Fittipaldi continued his great form, finishing the race fourth after fending off Jüri Vips for most of the 30 laps. Théo Pourchaire followed in sixth position, with Jack Doohan, Liam Lawson, Roy Nissany and Logan Sargeant completing the top 10.
AS IT HAPPENED
Daruvala, left, on the podium after taking 2nd in the F2 Sprint race on Saturday. Reverse pole-sitter Hughes stalled off the line allowing Hauger a clean run into Saint Devote to take the lead. Daruvala followed closely ahead of Armstrong, Fittipaldi and Vips. Pourchaire was on the move, diving up the inside of Doohan to take sixth position from the Virtuosi Racing driver on the opening lap.
Felipe Drugovich meanwhile plummeted and was in the pits at the end of the opening lap having sustained a puncture and fallen to last place. He made a bold call to switch to the full wets, reporting that drops of rain were beginning to fall. Those spots remained fine as he fell to over a minute behind Hauger. The Championship leader pitted again on lap four for dry tyres, going a lap down in the process. To compound the MP Motorsport driver’s woes, he was handed a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
With DRS enabled, Hauger had moved 1.5s clear of Daruvala but there was queue was starting to form behind Fittipaldi in fourth. Vips, Pourchaire, Doohan and Liam Lawson were part of the train, but there was no way through on the Charouz Racing System driver.
The racing remained under green flag conditions until lap 10 when Clément Novalak hit the wall on the exit of La Rascasse. A dive up the inside by Ayumu Iwasa got him side-by-side with the Frenchman, leading to the MP Motorsport driver tagging the barriers on corner exit. It brought the Safety Car out as Novalak’s car was recovered. Iwasa was in at the end of the next lap for a new front wing, dropping him to 17th. The Japanese driver later received a 10-second time penalty for the incident.
The Safety Car was withdrawn on lap 13 and Hauger resumed his comfortable lead, gaining over a second on Daruvala during the first lap back racing. Hughes had got going after his stall at the start and was the fastest man on track at the halfway stage of the Sprint Race. Unfortunately for the Van Amersfoort Racing driver, he was 16s down on the next car up the road and circulating in 19th.
Having re-joined the race five laps down and on the wet tyres, Drugovich retired on lap 20. Meanwhile, PREMA Racing were enjoying a one-two heading into the final 10 laps, though Daruvala was being pressured by Armstrong for P2, with the Hitech Grand Prix driver on the brink of being within DRS range.
Down the order, Olli Caldwell had a lock-up into the Nouvelle Chicane and lightly tagged the back of Marino Sato’s Virtuosi car. Both avoided major damage and continued on in 15th and 16th respectively with five laps to go.
Up in front, nobody could get close to Hauger, who’d disappeared six seconds up the road by the chequered flag. Daruvala held onto second after late pressure from Armstrong. Fittipaldi likewise resisted the pressure from Vips behind to claim fourth while Pourchaire, Doohan – who claimed the fastest lap on the final tour – Lawson, Nissany and Sargeant kept it clean to each finish in the top 10.
KEY QUOTE – Dennis Hauger, PREMA Racing
“(My) first win in Formula 2, really happy with that. It was a good race, obviously Jake (Hughes) stalled, but from then on I just tried to keep everything clean and keep up some good pace. Really happy with this win in Monaco. Hopefully we can fight for a bit more tomorrow as well.”
THE CHAMPIONSHIP VIEW
Drugovich remains the Championship leader on 88 points, meanwhile, Pourchaire moves onto 63 point. Daruvala’s second-place finish keeps him third in the standings, while Armstrong demotes Lawson to fifth, moving onto 42 points versus the Carlin driver’s 38.
The Teams’ Standings is still lead by MP Motorsport on 110 points, with ART Grand Prix remaining in second now on 88. Behind both though, Hitech Grand Prix jump Carlin for third, now on 76 and 74 points respectively.
WHAT’S NEXT
The Monte Carlo Feature Race will take place on Sunday with lights out at 09:50 local time.
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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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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
