Tag: 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.

Mumbai, 17 March 2022: Indian F1 hopeful Jehan Daruvala heads into this weekend’s season-opening Bahrain round of the Formula 2 championship with his sights set on battling for the win.

The 23-year-old from Mumbai has a strong record of success at the Sakhir desert track, winning his first Formula 2 race at the venue in 2020 in his debut season before following it up with a podium there last year.

Driving for reigning champions Prema Racing this season and having set the second-fastest time of pre-season testing at the same venue, Jehan heads into the weekend as one of the favourites.

Prema have won in Bahrain in three of the last five seasons.  

A win would mark the perfect start to a season in which Jehan is hoping to become the first Indian to win the Formula 2 title. 

Jehan said, “I can’t wait to go racing again. Getting some time off at the end of last year was good and I’m now raring to get the season underway. Bahrain is where I took my first Formula 2 win, it’s a track that suits my driving style and I’m pretty sure we can do well there again. The competition will be tough but we came away in a strong position from testing, I’m feeling at home with the team and we go into the weekend confident that we can get some big results.”

Jehan will hit the track on Friday, March 18th for practice and qualifying. The weekend’s Sprint race will be held on Saturday, March 19th, with the main Feature race scheduled for Sunday, March 20th, before the start of the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix 

Jehan, who is also part of the Red Bull Junior Team, is heading into his third season in Formula 2, the feeder-series that sits below F1 on the single-seater ladder.

He raced for Carlin in the last two seasons but has made the move to Prema Racing this year.

The Italian racing powerhouse is the most successful outfit in Formula 2, having delivered three of the series’ five drivers’ champions, including Ferrari Formula 1 race winner Charles Leclerc and Mick Schumacher, son of seven-time world champion Michael.

Jehan, who finished third in the Formula 3 standings while racing for Prema in 2019, is looking to emulate this duo and follow Australian Oscar Piastri as the squad’s third straight Formula 2 champion.

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.

Stats and Facts

• Circuit length: 5.412 km
• First race: 2017
• Jehan’s Bahrain debut: 2020
• Wins: 1 (2020)
• Podiums: 2 (2020, 2021)
• Jehan 2021 result: 2nd (Sprint 1), 4th (Sprint 2), 6th (Feature)
• Prema pole positions: 1 (2017)
• Prema wins: 3 (2017, 2020, 2021)

Weekend Schedule

Free practice: Friday, March 18th at 1505 IST

Qualifying: Friday, March 18th at 2155 IST

Sprint race: Saturday, March 19th at 2210 IST

Feature race: Sunday, March 20th at 1610 IST

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 up 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.

Abu Dhabi(UAE), December 11, 2021: Ace Indian racer Jehan Daruvala of Carlin Racing pulled off a sensational victory in Formula 2 at the Yas Marina Circuit on Saturday.

Watch the Indian National Anthem being sung at Abu Dhabi, video courtesy ChequeredFlag on twitter @CFmagIndia

Watch a brilliant defensive move here from Jehan Daruvala Twitter handle.

The main support race for the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix saw Jehan start on Pole (first), soak up immense pressure and eventually script his second victory and fifth podium in Formula 2 this year.

Jehan, part of the Red Bull Racing Junior Team, got off to an excellent start and held his lead in the short run down to Corner 1 of the 5.281km circuit. Behind, Dan Tictum slipped to fourth while Felipe Drugovich, starting third, gained a position to get into second.

Drugovich, then, started piling the pressure on Jehan. Twice on the first lap, the Brazilian managed to pull alongside Jehan, but the Indian held him at bay with some clever positioning of his car.

“After struggling in the early part of the weekend, it is fantastic to win here. I was under a lot of pressure in the first few laps as well as later on. But I remained confident and really enjoyed the racing. It’s a good result for the team, so thank you to everyone who has worked hard to make this happen. Starting tenth in the next race is going to be tough, but I will do my best,” said Jehan after his third win in Formula 2 races in two years.

Midway through the race, Drugovich again started piling on the pressure. He lunged down the inside of Jehan and almost shot ahead too. But Jehan stayed by his side till the corner, where he emerged ahead once again.

Initially, it seemed like Jehan had pushed his car and tyres too hard too early in the race to break the DRS opportunity for the drivers behind. But Jehan had, in fact, managed to absorb the immense pressure and repeated attacks while also preserving his tyre life. Towards the end of the race, Jehan opened up a small gap to Drugovich and kept increasing it.

Jehan comfortably won the race with a 2-second margin over Drugovich to earn his fifth podium of the season. Championship leader Oscar Piastri climbed up the order and finished third to win the 2021 Formula 2 title comfortably. The top ten from this race will be reversed for the start of Race 2, which means that Jehan will have to start tenth.

After showing tremendous pace and overtaking skills in Jeddah last weekend on the fastest street circuit on the F1 calendar, due to penalties in races, Jehan had missed out on a podium last weekend. This race was a strong comeback from the Indian star.

The Red Bull Junior driver, Daruvala, got a great launch when the lights went out, and he zoomed into the lead heading into Turn 1 and Drugovich followed behind him. “Yes, P1. I am really happy with the victory after a pretty tough race what with all the pressure behind,” said the Mumbai-born Indian.

Oscar Piastri completed a historic hat-trick in Sprint Race 1 at Yas Marina, running a superb race from 10th to third to seal the Formula 2 crown with a podium and add it to a collection that also includes the 2020 Formula 3 Championship and the 2019 Formula Renault trophy.

Carlin’s Jehan Daruvala beat UNI-Virtuosi’s Felipe Drugovich to take victory on track, but all eyes were locked on Piastri to see if he could wrap up the Championship. And the PREMA driver’s stylish performance was a fitting end to a phenomenal campaign, which includes five wins, 10 podiums and five poles.

Finishing fourth, Robert Shwartzman led Piastri for the majority of the 23 laps and put up a strong fight, but was unable to delay his teammate’s coronation, who joined Charles Leclerc and George Russell as rookie champions.

Liam Lawson, Dan Ticktum, Théo Pourchaire and Guanyu Zhou took the remaining points off offer, with tyre wear proving particular challenging in 38-degree track temperatures, which made overtaking difficult in the second half of the race.

AS IT HAPPENED

Daruvala, who started on pole in the reverse grid, following his 10th in the quualies, shot ahead with Drugovich in tow. The second Carlin of Dan Ticktum struggled offthe line, sinking to fourth, with Liam Lawson also getting the jump on him.Looking to wrap up the title at the earliest opportunity, Piastri was rapid at the start, lunging from 10th to sixth and putting himself directly behind his teammate Shwartzman, the one driver who could prevent him from clinching the crown.

The PREMAs were in fantastic form as the pair of them scampered ahead of Ticktum for a spot in the top five, before Shwartzman put some daylight between himself and Piastri, taking the final podium position from Lawson and putting the Hitech between himself and his teammate.

But Piastri swiftly responded, getting past Lawson on the following lap and returning to the tyre tracks of Shwartzman.

Daruvala and Drugovich were continuing their battle at the front of the field, as the Red Bull junior fought to ditch the UNI-Virtuosi and rid him of DRS.

All the while, Shwartzman was gaining on the pair of them, the PREMA driver cutting the gap from 3s to 1.5s within a lap, as Virtuosi pressured Drugovich to get the move done on team radio.

Shwartzman appeared in his mirrors, and this gave Drugovich the nudge he needed to make a move on Daruvala, but the Brazilian couldn’t make it stick. Initially getting in front at Turn 8, the Carlin responded and pulled back ahead at Turn 9 to retain P1.

There wasn’t too much going on behind them, with the majority of the field in a battle with their heavily degrading Pirelli, as Lawson led Ticktum, Pourchaire, Zhou, Ralph Boschung and Marcus Armstrong in the remainder of the top 10.

Piastri and Shwartzman had looked pretty settled in third and fourth, gently managing their tyres, but Piastri spotted a late opportunity and decided to take it, firing his PREMA down the inside of Shwartzman at Turn 9. The Russian attempted to fight back as Piastri locked up, but he was unable to reclaim the position as the champion-in-waiting began to pull away.

The Australian had one eye on second place but ran out of laps with just one to go. Daruvala led Drugovich and Piastri across the line for his second win of the season. Shwartzman finished fourth ahead of Lawson, with Ticktum, Pourchaire and Zhou finishing in the final points’ positions.

“Back on the top step after a disappointing weekend in Jeddah where I didn’t take many points, so it is good to start off the weekend with a victory. We weren’t too strong in Quali, but our race pace looked pretty strong.

“I had a great battle with Felipe (Drugovich) at one point and we were side-by-side for a couple of corners, but I managed to stick it out in front. The car felt good, and I just took it to the chequered flag.

“Congratulations to Oscar (Piastri), I didn’t think that I would see him on the podium from 10th, but a big well done to him, he has dominated the whole year.”

THE CHAMPIONSHIP VIEW

Piastri clinches the Championship with a tally of 227.5 points, with Shwartzman in second on 170 and Zhou third with 150. Ticktum is fourth with 143.6 points and Pourchaire fifth on 126.

In the Teams’ Championship, PREMA Racing are champions with 397.5 points, ahead of Carlin on 254.5 and UNI-Virtuosi on 234. Hitech are fourth with 215 points, ahead of ART Grand Prix on 176.

WHAT’S NEXT?

After finishing 10th, Marcus Armstrong will be bidding to take his second victory in as many rounds when he lines up from reverse grid pole in Sprint Race 2. Ralph Boschung will join the DAMS’ driver on the front row of the reverse grid at 6.45pm local time.

Action from FIA Formula 2 – Yas Marina, Abu Dhabi – Sprint Race 2 will LIVE on EUROSPORT and EUROSPORT HD from 20:15 Hrs (08:15 pm IST) onwards on Saturday, 11th December, 2021. Eurosport channel can now be streamed on the discovery+ app.