INDIA in F1

Daruvala seals back-to-back wins in France

Jehan Daruvala gets back to back wins in France. An FIA image

Jehan Daruvala made it back-to-back FIA Formula 3 race wins and three in a row for PREMA Racing, as he came from second to win in Le Castellet, France. There was heartbreak for polesitter Jake Hughes, who lost P1 to the Indian, before making contact with Marcus Armstrong whilst battling for position and dropping to the back of the grid. Robert Shwartzman took advantage of the turmoil to claim P2, with Pedro Piquet completing the podium.

Hughes made the perfect getaway when the lights went out, standing firm in first and setting the fastest lap. Shwartzman suffered contrasting fortunes and dropped back to 6^th, behind his PREMA teammates, as well as Piquet and Bent Viscaal.

Daruvala had briefly lost second to Piquet with a slow start of his own, but soon reclaimed the position with a move that seemed to take an age. Armstrong and Shwartzman followed their teammate a lap later down the mistral straight, as the Brazilian’s strong start quickly unravelled. Further back, Jüri Vips had been optimistic with an overtake on Alex Peroni and looked to have moved too early, but he earned himself a second shot and made it count for P6.

Daruvala’s slow start became a distant memory and he started pilling the pressure onto the experienced Brit in front of him, quickly coming into DRS range. The Indian made his pace advantage count and rattled past Hughes in an all too easy move when the Briton ached around a corner too slowly.

With anger seeping through him, Hughes hurtled back onto the tail of the new race leader, but skidded off track and nearly lost second to Armstrong, who could see his opportunity opening. The Kiwi muscled his way past shortly after, through the tightest of gaps.

As opposed to ending the battle between them, this only proved to intensify it. Hughes kept his emotions in check to shrewdly slide back into second a lap later, with the aid of DRS. Shwartzman added a third name to the bout as he closed in on the Kiwi, before the duo took advantage of an uncharacteristic wobble from the English driver and both surged past after he went wide.

Now out of the podium places, the former poleman suffered a bout of red mist in his fury to recover. Shwartzman overtook Armstrong, and Hughes eyed an all too tight gap around the chicane. He attempted the manoeuvre, but lost the rear around Turn 8 and clipped the back of the New Zealand driver, sending them both into a spin. Armstrong managed to recover for fifth, but the HWA RACELAB man plummeted to the back of the grid and offered a heart-breaking apology to his team.

With bedlam playing out behind him, Daruvala built up a steady 3s lead out in front and seemed assured of the race win heading towards the final lap. Now up to third, a three-way tussle between Shwartzman, Piquet and Vips commenced with little time left. The gap between them was microscopic, but with just a lap to go, there was little time to be gained and the trio retained their positions come the chequered flag.

Daruvala was first through to secure his second win of the campaign, while Shwartzman followed for a PREMA one-two, with Piquet in third. Vips , Bent Viscaal, Armstrong, Yuki Tsunoda, Peroni, Liam Lawson and David Beckmann followed.

Campos Racing’s Peroni will start Race 2 in reverse grid pole tomorrow as the F3 grid turn up in the heat in France, at 9.55am local time.

	DRIVER	TEAM
1	Jehan Daruvala	PREMA Racing
2	Robert Shwartzman	PREMA Racing
3	Pedro Piquet	Trident
4	Juri Vips	Hitech Grand Prix
5	Bent Viscaal	HWA RACELAB
6	Marcus Armstrong	PREMA Racing
7	Yuki Tsunoda	Jenzer Motorsport
8	Alex Peroni	Campos Racing
9	Liam Lawson	MP Motorsport
10	David Beckmann	ART Grand Prix
11	Andreas Estner	Jenzer Motorsport
12	Logan Sargeant	Carlin Buzz Racing
13	Ye Yifei	Hitech Grand Prix
14	Richard Verschoor	MP Motorsport
15	Fabio Scherer	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
16	Alessio Deledda	Campos Racing
17	Raoul Hyman	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
18	Niko Kari	Trident
19	Felipe Drugovich	Carlin Buzz Racing
20	Simo Laaksonen	MP Motorsport
21	Devlin DeFrancesco	Trident

	NOT CLASSIFIED

	Jake Hughes	HWA RACELAB
	Sebastian Fernandez	Campos Racing
	Max Fewtrell	ART Grand Prix
	Lirim Zendeli	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
	Teppei Natori	Carlin Buzz Racing
	Leonardo Pulcini	Hitech Grand Prix
	Christian Lundgaard	ART Grand Prix
	Keyvan Andres	HWA RACELAB

	OVERALL FASTEST LAP
	Felipe Drugovich (Carlin Buzz Racing) – 1:52.358 on Lap 19

	FASTEST LAP ELIGIBLE FOR POINTS
	Yuki Tsunoda (Jenzer Motorsport) – 1:53.134 on Lap 17

June 22, 2019

We have the pace to go for the win tomorrow, says Jehan Daruvala

Jehan Daruvala (left) at the post-qualifying press conference on Friday. An FIA image

FIA Formula 3 post qualyfying press conference transcript:

FIA Formula 3: Hello and welcome to today’s FIA Formula 3 press conference following Qualifying here at Paul Ricard. Joining us today we have our top three drivers from that session. On pole position Jake Hughes of HWA RACELAB, in second place Jehan Daruvala of PREMA Racing and in third place Robert Shwartzman of PREMA Racing. Jake if we can start with you, HWA’s first pole position at this level and it was a really mighty final lap for you to grab pole position. Could you talk us through that lap?

Jake Hughes: For sure the last lap was really good, without a mistake and as close to the limit as I felt like I could get away with. To be honest though I think we had a good car the whole session. The first lap on the last set was just a compromise because of a lot of traffic in the last corner. Sector 1 especially was just cold tyres. I think I found myself mid-pack after the first lap on the last set. We remained confident, the car was good for the whole session as I said, and I didn’t know I was on pole when I crossed the line. I knew after the first lap that the fastest lap was a .6, so I saw .5 on the dash and thought maybe I had a chance but it wasn’t until I was in Sector 3 that I found out. I’m really happy, and it’s only HWA’s second race in FIA F3 so to get their pole I’m really proud of them and so a big thank you.

FIA Formula 3: And it’s a really positive way to bounce back from quite a difficult weekend in Barcelona at the start of the season. You must be delighted?

Jake: Yeah we didn’t score any points. It was a big shame that we had the problem that we did in Qualifying in Barcelona. I think we were fighting for the top five there as well. Obviously we don’t expect to be on pole at every race but fighting for it at least, and it seemed like we could do that even through testing. I’m happy to confirm that let’s say.

FIA Formula 3: Congratulations. Jehan moving on to you now. You led the majority of the session and had quite a big margin at one point. You didn’t manage to improve on the final lap but you must still be pretty pleased with P2 on the grid?

Jehan Daruvala: Yeah. To be honest I’m pretty pleased with how the session went in general. Every lap I did I kept improving my driving, and the car was good the whole session. I’m pretty happy with my lap, Jake just did a better job. P2 is still a good place to start tomorrow. Like I said, the car’s strong. We have three cars in the top five clearly we have the pace to go for the win tomorrow.

FIA Formula 3: It must be really good momentum for yourself as well, following on from the Sunday victory in Spain, to carry this on through to Paul Ricard, so you must be pleased?

Jehan: I’m pleased. Also we had a decent qualifying session in Barcelona. In Race 1 I had a bad start but that got resolved in Race 2. My main goal tomorrow is to be good off the line and I think we have a good enough car to win the race.

FIA Formula 3: Thank you. Robert, moving on to you now. Pole position in Spain, P3 here, did you feel that pole was within your reach today? You were always kind of in the mix at the front.

Robert Shwartzman: Yeah we were quite close. There were a few things that we should have improved, especially me and my driving, but still we were always there. I’m quite happy with P3. It’s a position where we can fight for the win tomorrow. The main job should be tomorrow and we need to push. Big congratulations to Jake because he did a really good job, and also to Jehan. Tomorrow I hope is going to be fair and nice fighting for the win.

FIA Formula 3: Picking up on what Jehan said about the team performance to start the season, how much of a boost is it for you to see so many PREMA cars so far up the order?

Robert: It’s really, really good. For PREMA it’s the first year in this championship with this car. We are really competitive. The car feels really good and the team is working really well, so big thanks to them. I worked with them last year and I really enjoyed it, and I’m enjoying working with them even more this year. Everything is going like we’ve planned so we just need to improve a few things, but that’s it.

FIA Formula 3: Well done. Jake back to you. What are your feelings going into tomorrow’s race and that run down to a quite complex first set of corners? How do you think you’re going to approach that?

Jake: Well, have a good start obviously [laughs]. I was pretty confident with our starts through testing and in Barcelona, so hopefully that repeats itself. We have good tyres for the race tomorrow. We saved a set in practice so that should help – well, it’s not a disadvantage obviously though it’s not a certainty. The PREMA guys especially had a very good weekend in Barcelona with tyre life, so I’m not expecting an easy race for sure. Hopefully we lead into Turn 1 and, as Robert says, we have a clean fight from there.

June 22, 2019

Jehan Daruvala misses pole by a whisker: F3 qualifying session

Le Castellet (France), 21 June 2019: Jake Hughes pulled off the ultimate final lap to steal pole position at the death in FIA Formula 3 qualifying here on Friday. Indian racer Jehan Daruvala thought he had sealed the spot, but the Briton seared around the track on his final attempt to leap up the grid and earn HWA RACELAB their first ever F3 pole, with Robert Shwartzman in third.

Temperatures had cooled slightly since the morning session and Max Fewtrell was the first out onto the Circuit Paul Ricard, but it was PREMA who once again set the tone with Daruvala and Shwartzman topping the early timesheets.

Niko Kari had led Free Practice this morning, but his first time was only good enough for seventh. His second shot was more fruitful and he joined the PREMA duo in third. Daruvala was proving stern in first place and Christian Lundgaard twice saw attempts on the position fail, forcing him to settle for second at the midway point.

Shwartzman had a second attempt on his teammate’s time, as did Leonardo Pulcini, but once again the duo came up short behind the inspired Indian. Despite his domination out in front, it was proving incredibly tight further behind, with less than a second separating the top seventeen.

Having improved upon his own lap, Daruvala appeared confident out in front when the chequered flag was waved, after his Russian teammate had once again failed to lap quicker. With most of the cars having already passed the line, Hughes quietly went about his business and achieved a feat the others had not, by beating the Indian in every sector to earn his first pole position of the season.

Hughes and Daruvala finished ahead of Shwartzman, Pedro Piquet, Marcus Armstrong, Leonardo Pulcini, Jüri Vips, Bent Viscaal, Kari and Alex Peroni.

2019 FIA Formula 3 – Round 2 Qualifying

	DRIVER	TEAM	LAPTIME	LAPS
1	Jake Hughes	HWA RACELAB	1:49.519	13
2	Jehan Daruvala	PREMA Racing	1:49.606	12
3	Robert Shwartzman	PREMA Racing	1:49.758	12
4	Pedro Piquet	Trident	1:49.944	13
5	Marcus Armstrong	PREMA Racing	1:50.066	12
6	Leonardo Pulcini	Hitech Grand Prix	1:50.095	13
7	Juri Vips	Hitech Grand Prix	1:50.128	13
8	Bent Viscaal	HWA RACELAB	1:50.192	13
9	Niko Kari	Trident	1:50.253	12
10	Alex Peroni	Campos Racing	1:50.316	14
11	Logan Sargeant	Carlin Buzz Racing	1:50.345	12
12	Christian Lundgaard	ART Grand Prix	1:50.378	12
13	Richard Verschoor	MP Motorsport	1:50.451	12
14	Max Fewtrell	ART Grand Prix	1:50.456	13
15	Liam Lawson	MP Motorsport	1:50.468	14
16	Ye Yifei	Hitech Grand Prix	1:50.491	13
17	Lirim Zendeli	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz	1:50.510	14
18	Felipe Drugovich	Carlin Buzz Racing	1:50.549	11
19	Devlin DeFrancesco	Trident	1:50.566	13
20	Simo Laaksonen	MP Motorsport	1:50.585	12
21	Teppei Natori	Carlin Buzz Racing	1:50.673	12
22	David Beckmann	ART Grand Prix	1:50.716	13
23	Fabio Scherer	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz	1:50.749	13
24	Raoul Hyman	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz	1:50.791	12
25	Keyvan Andres	HWA RACELAB	1:51.068	13
26	Sebastian Fernandez	Campos Racing	1:51.272	14
27	Yuki Tsunoda	Jenzer Motorsport	1:51.987	12
28	Andreas Estner	Jenzer Motorsport	1:52.066	14
29	Alessio Deledda	Campos Racing	1:54.226	13

June 22, 2019

PREMA reign in Spain as Daruvala dominates Race 2

Jehan Daruvala wins F3 Race 2 on 12 May 2019. An F3 image

Barcelona, 12 May 2019: Jehan Daruvala once again created history, winning in the inaugural round of the all-new FIA Formula 3 Championship, in Barcelona, in front of a huge F1 audience. The Indian National Anthem rung out at the Spanish F1 Grand Prix event thanks to the F3 races being one of the support events to F1, along with the FIA F2 races.

The only Indian on the grid started from second and was able to grab the lead into the run down to the first corner. With an accident involving 4 cars at the back of the grid, the safety car was deployed on lap one. At the re-start, Kari was able to benefit from Jehan’s slipstream during the restart, and Jehan had to defend hard to keep the lead. Over the next 2 laps, Jehan quickly opened up a gap of over 1.5 seconds so as to prevent Kari from deploying DRS (Drag Reduction System).

The safety car was deployed a second time negating the advantage of a 2 second gap which Jehan had built up. During the restart, Jehan was much better prepared and was able to open up a gap of over 1.5 seconds in less than 2 laps. He thereafter controlled the race well and also bagged the fastest lap of the race. Later, Jehan cruised to take the chequered flag 2.121 seconds ahead of Estonian racer Juri Vips, who by then had managed to move up to second.

“During the race I was, let’s say, in control, except for the first restart when I didn’t surprise the guy behind, enough, so I had to defend. After that, I was just managing the pace. I have to thank everyone at Prema Racing for giving me a fantastic car. I did not overdrive it, although if I needed more I could have pushed in the final couple of laps.” said the former multiple International Karting Champion.

The new FIA F3 Championship was created by merging the erstwhile GP3 Championship and FIA F3 European Championship, resulting in an ultra-competitive 30 car grid. The championship will be the perfect training ground for the world’s best upcoming talents, to race at F1 events and the opportunity to prove themselves to all the F1 teams.

The 20-year-old Jehan began his career in Karting at the age of 10. Since then he has won the Indian National Karting Championship, the Malaysian Junior Yamaha Karting Championship, the FIA CIK Asia Pacific KF3 Championship, and the British Superone National Karting Championship. Jehan remains the only Indian on the podium of any FIA World Championship when he was second runner up of the FIA CIK World Karting Championship. Jehan also remains the only Indian to win a Grand Prix, when he won the New Zealand Grand Prix and later went on to become the only Indian to win a race in the erstwhile FIA F3 European Championship, which used slower cars. Earlier this year Jehan was selected by Prema Racing, one of the world’s most successful Junior Racing teams’ to drive for them in this year’s new, FIA F3 Championship.

Jehan’s next race will be along with the French Grand Prix from 21 to 23 June.

Race Report:

Jehan Daruvala made it back-to-back wins for PREMA Racing in Spain, after an eventful FIA Formula 3 Race 2 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, finishing on top after a dominant drive ahead of Hitech Grand Prix’s Jüri Vips and Niko Kari of Trident.

Daruvala, the Indian racer, who finished 7th in the first race started on part as Reverse Grid for the first 8 was followed for Race 2 and jumped into the lead as the lights went out with a good start.

The temperature was a mild 17 degrees, but things quickly heated up following a dramatic Lap 1 that saw Daruvala start well from the front row to take P1 from Kari off the grid as Vips dropped from third to fifth behind Marcus Armstrong and Max Fewtrell. Therefore drama further back at Turn 1 with Ye Yifei and Artem Petrov making contact. Raoul Hyman and Jake Hughes had nowhere to go and the ensuing collision sent all four drivers into the gravel and out of the race.

The safety car was deployed while the cars were recovered. Five laps later Kari looked to pressure Daruvala for P1 from the restart, but the PREMA ace calmly held position before building up a healthy lead.

Lap 9 saw more drama as the MP Motorsport machine of Simo Laaksonen was sent spinning into the wall by Campos Racing’s Alex Peroni. The Australian had been forced off the track and tried to defend position as he rejoined, only to cut back across the Finn. Laaksonen was forced to retire, Peroni handed a 10 second stop go penalty, and the safety car saw its second outing of the afternoon.

That meant that Daruvala’s lead over Kari, by this point 7.4 seconds, was reduced to nothing as the racing pack was bunched together. It didn’t seem to bother the Indian though, and following the restart he picked up just where he’d left off and began rebuilding a gap.

Further behind there was plenty of jockeying for position as yesterday’s winner Robert Shwartzman lunged past Christian Lundgaard for P6, and the Danish man immediately had to defend from ART Grand Prix teammate David Beckmann.

With 7 laps to go Vips began a charge from P5 that saw him reel Armstrong and then Fewtrell to burst into the top 3, with Shwartzman closely following the Estonian to take P4. Fewtrell was more than 2 seconds off the pace and fell further back into P7 after teammate Lundgaard passed him.

Vips continued to push, closing on Kari and taking P2 on Lap 21, but Daruvala looked supreme out in front with an unassailable lead to take the chequered flag ahead of the Hitech man in second, Kari in P3, with Shwartzman, Armstrong, Lundgaard, Beckmann and Fewtrell completing the point scoring positions.

The result sees Shwartzman become the early leader in the Drivers’ Championship after Round 1 with 37 points. Lundgaard is second with 24, and Daruvala third by just one point with 23. Armstrong and Vips follow with 21 and 20 points respectively. PREMA Racing leap to an early lead in the Team’s Championship, taking 81 points from the first event of the season, 32 points ahead of ART Grand Prix in second with 49, with Hitech Grand Prix occupying third place with 20 points.

France will host Round 2 of the FIA Formula 3 in June 21-23.

2019 FIA Formula 3 Round 1 – Race 2 classification

	DRIVER	TEAM
1	Jehan Daruvala	PREMA Racing
2	Jüri Vips	Hitech Grand Prix
3	Niko Kari	Trident
4	Robert Shwartzman	PREMA Racing
5	Marcus Armstrong	PREMA Racing
6	Christian Lundgaard	ART Grand Prix
7	David Beckmann	ART Grand Prix
8	Max Fewtrell	ART Grand Prix
9	Yuki Tsunoda	Jenzer Motorsport
10	Felipe Drugovich	Carlin Buzz Racing
11	Lirim Zendeli	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
12	Sebastian Fernandez	Campos Racing
13	Bent Viscaal	HWA RACELAB
14	Logan Sargeant	Carlin Buzz Racing
15	Teppei Natori	Carlin Buzz Racing
16	Pedro Piquet	Trident
17	Liam Lawson	MP Motorsport
18	Keyvan Andres	HWA RACELAB
19	Richard Verschoor	MP Motorsport
20	Devlin DeFrancesco	Trident
21	Leonardo Pulcini	Hitech Grand Prix
22	Andreas Estner	Jenzer Motorsport
23	Alessio Deledda	Campos Racing
24	Alex Peroni	Campos Racing

	NOT CLASSIFIED
	Simo Laaksonen	MP Motorsport
	Fabio Scherer	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
	Jake Hughes	HWA RACELAB
	Artem Petrov	Jenzer Motorsport
	Raoul Hyman	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
	Ye Yifei	Hitech Grand Prix

	OVERALL FASTEST LAP
	Jehan Daruvala – PREMA Racing – 1:34.711 – Lap 7

	FASTEST LAP ELIGIBLE FOR POINTS
	Jehan Daruvala – PREMA Racing

May 12, 2019

Piquet sets the pace; Jehan Daruvala 11th: F3 Free Practice

Barcelona, 10 May 2019: Pedro Piquet roared around the track to steal the fastest time right at the death during a trouble-free first FIA Formula 3 free practice session in Barcelona, Spain. The Trident driver set 1:33.255 at the chequered flag to put him ahead of Hitech Grand Prix’s Jüri Vips and PREMA’s Robert Shwartzman.

Indian racer Jehan Daruvala, also of Prema Racing was 11th fastest among the 30 drivers on the maiden F3 session.

Leonardo Pulcini who had set the pace during pre-season testing on the Spanish track laid down an early gauntlet with a time of 1:35.794, in the 17 degree morning heat. He was soon toppled by Alex Peroni though who was closing in on the 1m 35s mark.

There was no love lost between an extremely competitive pack: David Beckmann was held up by Fabio Scherer in his attempts to climb up the leaderboard and the German clipped the back of the Sauber Junior Team by Charouz driver in an unsuccessful overtake move. With Beckmann back in the pits for a front wing change, Christian Lundgaard made no mistake in his bid for P1 and broke the 1m 35s barrier.

PREMA’s Jehan Daruvala briefly nabbed P1, before Shwartzman set the time to beat and dipped under 1m 34s for the first time. Behind the leader, Marcus Armstrong, Simo Laaksonen and Beckmann were battling to make up the top three before Jake Hughes reminded everyone of his lap speed to take P2. The British driver narrowly missed out on top spot in the final sector.

Shwartzman appeared unmovable from his perch as the clock ticked down. It wasn’t until the final moments that the Russian was knocked down the order, as Piquet and Vips flew around the track to snatch first and second, with just 0.009s between them. Piquet’s time of 1:33.255 was enough to seal P1 and he was followed by Vips, Shwartzman, Niko Kari, Hughes, Logan Sargeant, Armstrong, Laaksonen, Beckmann and Ye Yifei.

Having enjoyed their first taste of an F3 race weekend, the drivers and teams will look to continue their early competitiveness in qualifying at 5.50pm local time.

2019 FIA Formula 3 Round 1 – Free Practice classification

	DRIVER	TEAM	LAPTIME	LAPS
1	Pedro Piquet	Trident	1:33.255	15
2	Jüri Vips	Hitech Grand Prix	1:33.264	19
3	Robert Shwartzman	PREMA Racing	1:33.510	14
4	Niko Kari	Trident	1:33.519	15
5	Jake Hughes	HWA RACELAB	1:33.766	17
6	Logan Sargeant	Carlin Buzz Racing	1:33.923	15
7	Marcus Armstrong	PREMA Racing	1:33.923	14
8	Simo Laaksonen	MP Motorsport	1:33.938	16
9	David Beckmann	ART Grand Prix	1:34.059	15
10	Ye Yifei	Hitech Grand Prix	1:34.144	20
11	Jehan Daruvala	PREMA Racing	1:34.211	15
12	Christian Lundgaard	ART Grand Prix	1:34.237	15
13	Devlin DeFrancesco	Trident	1:34.301	16
14	Bent Viscaal	HWA RACELAB	1:34.321	17
15	Max Fewtrell	ART Grand Prix	1:34.301	16
16	Felipe Drugovich	Carlin Buzz Racing	1:34.475	15
17	Richard Verschoor	MP Motorsport	1:34.608	16
18	Keyvan Andres	HWA RACELAB	1:34.755	15
19	Lirim Zendeli	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz	1:34.860	19
20	Teppei Natori	Carlin Buzz Racing	1:34.877	17
21	Alex Peroni	Campos Racing	1:35.038	17
22	Liam Lawson	MP Motorsport	1:35.053	13
23	Sebastian Fernandez	Campos Racing	1:35.139	7
24	Leonardo Pulcini	Hitech Grand Prix	1:35.192	19
25	Andreas Estner	Jenzer Motorsport	1:35.219	21
26	Yuki Tsunoda	Jenzer Motorsport	1:35.573	16
27	Raoul Hyman	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz	1:35.725	16
28	Artem Petrov	Jenzer Motorsport	1:35.814	18
29	Fabio Scherer	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz	1:36.140	15
30	Alessio Deledda	Campos Racing	1.36.241	16

May 10, 2019

Jehan Daruvala ends Budapest testing as third fastest: F3

Budapest, 18 April 2019: Indian racer Jehan Daruvala came third for Prema Racing while his teammate Robert Shwartzman was fastest on Day 2 of the Final FIA Formula 3 pre-season tests in Budapest, Hungary. Shwartzman, the rampant Russian, set the best time in the morning session, lapping the circuit in 1:30.746. This time was the best of Budapest testing overall. ART Grand Prix’s Christian Lundgaard was second fastest and Jehan Daruvala completed the top 3, less than a tenth (0.081) of a second behind.

No sooner had the thirty cars hit the track on Day 2 of Testing in Budapest, were they having to return to the pits. Andreas Estner had stopped at Turn 9 resulting in a red flag just minutes into the session. The drivers swiftly got back out there and Jüri Vips wasted no time in setting the early pace with 1:32.002.

The familiar sight of Leonardo Pulcini leading the pack was spotted half an hour into the session, when the cars dipped under 1m32s. With this achieved, PREMA Racing, Carlin Buzz Racing, Campos Racing, Jenzer Motorsport and ART Grand Prix all switched to new slick tyres, perhaps signifying a Qualifying simulation.

The best time from Day One of testing yesterday was beaten by the rapid Robert Shwartzman. Yuki Tsunoda, David Beckmann and Jake Hughes were all jostling for second position, but no one had been able to improve on the speed of the Russian from PREMA, before a Red Flag halfway through the session forced the cars back into the pitlane, due to Alex Peroni stopping on Turn 10.

The 1m31s barrier was broken for the first time in this year’s F3 Budapest Testing when they restarted, as Christian Lundgaard flew round the track to set a best time of 1:30.940. Not to be outdone, Shwartzman reclaimed the top spot when we entered the final hour, beating Lundgaard’s lap by 0.194s.

The Ferrari Academy driver continued to lead the way for the final hour and couldn’t be knocked off top spot. The 19-year-old was only separated by his PREMA teammates Jehan Daruvala and Marcus Armstrong in third and fourth by the second placed Lundgaard. The rest of the top ten was completed by Tsunoda, Beckmann, Hughes, Raoul Hyman, Liam Lawson and Max Fewtrell.

Yuki Tsunoda was the sole driver back out on track when testing restarted in the afternoon and set the bar at 1:32.177, ahead of the other cars returning onto the Hungaroring circuit, with temperatures hitting 18 degrees.

There were successive red flags after Sebastian Fernandez stopped at the pit lane entry and Pulcini stopped at Turn 2. Following this, Jenzer continued to dominate the afternoon and had their trio of drivers in the front three. Tsunoda led teammates Artem Petrov and Andreas Estner, while many of the teams focused on their lap count. There was little shakeup in the order prior to a red flag when Jüri Vips stopped at Turn 11.

With less than 15 minutes remaining, Felipe Drugovich and Shwartzman broke into the top 3, propping up frontman Tsunoda. Petrov, Hughes, Vips, Pedro Piquet, Hyman, Bent Viscaal and Niko Kari then made up the rest of the top ten.

This concluded the final FIA Formula 3 pre-season tests and the drivers and the teams will now look ahead to the first race weekend of the season, in Barcelona, Spain, on 10-12 May 2019.

FIA Formula 3 Budapest Test – Day 2 Morning Session

	DRIVER	TEAM	LAPTIME	LAPS
1	Robert Shwartzman	PREMA Racing	1:30.746	37
2	Christian Lundgaard	ART Grand Prix	1:30.940	53
3	Jehan Daruvala	PREMA Racing	1:31.021	27
4	Marcus Armstrong	PREMA Racing	1:31.122	27
5	Yuki Tsunoda	Jenzer Motorsport	1:31.146	39
6	David Beckmann	ART Grand Prix	1:31.184	55
7	Jake Hughes	HWA RACELAB	1:31.207	54
8	Raoul Hyman	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz	1:31.213	37
9	Liam Lawson	MP Motorsport	1:31.273	53
10	Max Fewtrell	ART Grand Prix	1:31.291	58
11	Jüri Vips	Hitech Grand Prix	1:31.347	48
12	Leonardo Pulcini	Hitech Grand Prix	1:31.384	47
13	Fabio Scherer	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz	1:31.442	54
14	Sebastian Fernandez	Campos Racing	1:31.442	36
15	Niko Kari	Trident	1:31.467	41
16	Lirim Zendeli	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz	1:31.501	48
17	Pedro Piquet	Trident	1:31.503	32
18	Richard Verschoor	MP Motorsport	1:31.508	51
19	Alexander Peroni	Campos Racing	1:31.530	46
20	Simo Laaksonen	MP Motorsport	1:31.604	51
21	Ye Yifei	Hitech Grand Prix	1:31.670	48
22	Artem Petrov	Jenzer Motorsport	1:31.692	37
23	Felipe Drugovich	Carlin Buzz Racing	1:31.704	41
24	Logan Sargeant	Carlin Buzz Racing	1:31.785	33
25	Andreas Estner	Jenzer Motorsport	1:31.964	27
26	Devlin DeFrancesco	Trident	1:32.106	44
27	Bent Viscaal	HWA RACELAB	1:32.146	52
28	Teppei Natori	Carlin Buzz Racing	1:32.415	34
29	Keyvan Andres	HWA RACELAB	1:32.549	45
30	Alessio Deledda	Campos Racing	1:33.320	44

FIA Formula 3 Budapest Test – Day 2 Afternoon Session

	DRIVER	TEAM	LAPTIME	LAPS
1	Yuki Tsunoda	Jenzer Motorsport	1:32.177	50
2	Felipe Drugovich	Carlin Buzz Racing	1:32.382	49
3	Robert Shwartzman	PREMA Racing	1:32.464	53
4	Artem Petrov	Jenzer Motorsport	1:32.520	48
5	Jake Hughes	HWA RACELAB	1:32.547	27
6	Jüri Vips	Hitech Grand Prix	1:32.733	32
7	Pedro Piquet	Trident	1:32.733	57
8	Raoul Hyman	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz	1:32.800	42
9	Bent Viscaal	HWA RACELAB	1:32.880	45
10	Niko Kari	Trident	1:32.905	56
11	Andreas Estner	Jenzer Motorsport	1:32.939	48
12	Jehan Daruvala	PREMA Racing	1:33.006	49
13	Keyvan Andres	HWA RACELAB	1:33.017	46
14	Liam Lawson	MP Motorsport	1:33.114	36
15	Marcus Armstrong	PREMA Racing	1:33.123	50
16	Simo Laaksonen	MP Motorsport	1:33.195	39
17	Alexander Peroni	Campos Racing	1:33.212	41
18	Teppei Natori	Carlin Buzz Racing	1:33.455	48
19	Richard Verschoor	MP Motorsport	1:33.827	35
20	Lirim Zendeli	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz	1:33.849	56
21	Devlin DeFrancesco	Trident	1:33.925	44
22	David Beckmann	ART Grand Prix	1:33.950	41
23	Sebastian Fernandez	Campos Racing	1:33.983	43
24	Ye Yifei	Hitech Grand Prix	1:33.990	37
25	Max Fewtrell	ART Grand Prix	1:34.085	37
26	Logan Sargeant	Carlin Buzz Racing	1:34.193	46
27	Leonardo Pulcini	Hitech Grand Prix	1:34.227	32
28	Fabio Scherer	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz	1:34.299	55
29	Alessio Deledda	Campos Racing	1:34.311	23
30	Christian Lundgaard	ART Grand Prix	1:34.424	40

April 18, 2019

FIA Formula 3 hits the track at Le Castellet

Le Castellet, 19 March 2019: The first official pre-season test of the 2019 FIA Formula 3 Championship will commence on Wednesday at the Circuit Paul Ricard in France. After a successful shakedown at Magny-Cours last month, the ten teams will trial the thirty F3 2019 cars for the very first time for two days at Le Castellet.

The only Indian racing in Formula 3 and the best bet from India for the next driver into Formula One from the country, Jehan Daruvala, is with Prema Racing team. Jehan stepped up to the new FIA F3 championship this year with Prema Racing, and the new F3 car will be considerably faster than the car Jehan raced in 2017-2018, with a completely new Dallara chassis mated to a 3400cc Mecachrome engine, capable of touching 300 km/hr. The car will also incorporate the halo, a safety mechanism to enhance driver protection which was introduced in F1 last year.

Jehan has been signed up by Prema Racing, one of the most successful Junior Racing Teams ever. Prema has won 6 drivers & team titles, in 7 years of the F3 European Championship’s existence, Mick Schumacher being the current champion. F1 racers – Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll, Antonio Giovinazzi have all raced with Prema on their way to F1.

Following a draw that took place ahead of the Shakedown, ART Grand Prix were lucky to pick numbers 1, 2 and 3. They will work this week with their 2019 line-up made of multiple GP3 race winner David Beckmann, and Renault Sport Academy’s protégés Max Fewtrell (2018 Eurocup Formula Renault Champion) and Christian Lundgaard. MP Motorsport drew numbers 4, 5 and 6 and recently confirmed newly crowned Toyota Racing Series Champion Liam Lawson and Richard Verschoor, alongside Simo Laaksonen.

Sauber Junior Team by Charouz inherited numbers 7, 8 and 9 and will line up reigning ADAC F4 Champion Lirim Zendeli, Fabio Scherer and F3 Asia Champion Raoul Hyman whilst HWA RACELAB are joined by Bent Viscaal, Jake Hughes and Keyvan Andres who will sport numbers 10, 11 and 12 respectively.

Jenzer Motorsport have confirmed two drivers so far: Honda protégé Yuki Tsunoda, and Artem Petrov who will race under numbers 14 and 15. They will be joined in France by Andreas Estner who will test for the Swiss outfit for the next two days. Trident are ready to tackle the season with Devlin DeFrancesco., Pedro Piquet and Niko Kari who will run with numbers 17, 18 and 19.

Racing with numbers 20, 21 and 22, Hitech Grand Prix have completed their 2019 line-up with Leonardo Pulcini, Red Bull Junior Jüri Vips and Ye Yifei. Campos Racing will field Alex Peroni, Alessio Deledda and Sebastian Fernandez in cars 23, 24 and 25 for 2019.

Marcus Armstrong from the Ferrari Driver Academy, Jehan Daruvala and Robert Shwartzman (also an FDA member) will grace PREMA Racing’s line-up with numbers 26. 27 and 28. Finally, Buzz Carlin Racing drew numbers 29, 30 and 31 to give to Teppei Natori, Felipe Drugovich and Logan Sargeant.

The drivers will run on Pirelli’s Medium compounds. For each driver, six sets of tyres will be made available over the course of the two days.

The pitlane will open at 09:00 on Wednesday morning, and will run until 12:00 before breaking for two hours. The session will restart at 14:00 before ending at 17:00. Thursday’s session will break for just one hour, with the afternoon running taking place from 13:00 to 16:00.

FIA Formula 3 Championship – Le Castellet Test Session: Drivers’ Entry List

Team	#	Driver	License
ART Grand Prix	1	David Beckmann	DEU
	2	Max Fewtrell	GBR
	3	Christian Lundgaard	DNK
MP Motorsport	4	Liam Lawson	NZL
	5	Simo Laaksonen	FIN
	6	Richard Verschoor	NLD
Sauber Junior Team by Charouz	7	Lirim Zendeli	DEU
	8	Fabio Scherer	CHE
	9	Raoul Hyman	GBR
HWA RACELAB	10	Bent Viscaal	NLD
	11	Jake Hughes	GBR
	12	Keyvan Andres	IRN
Jenzer Motorsport	14	Yuki Tsunoda	JPN
	15	Artem Pertov	RUS
	16	Andreas Estner	DEU
Trident	17	Devlin DeFrancesco	CAN
	18	Pedro Piquet	BRA
	19	Niko Kari	FIN
Hitech Grand Prix	20	Leonardo Pulcini	ITA
	21	Juri Vips	EST
	22	Ye Yifei	FRA
Campos Racing	23	Alexander Peroni	AUS
	24	Alessio Deledda	ITA
	25	Sebastian Fernandez	ESP
PREMA Racing	26	Marcus Armstrong	NZL
	27	Jehan Daruvala	IND
	28	Robert Schwartzman	RUS
Carlin Buzz Racing	29	Teppei Natori	JPN
	30	Felipe Drugovich	BRA
	31	Logan Sargeant	USA

March 19, 2019

Jehan Daruvala gets the taste of 2019 F3 car at Shakedown in Magny-Cours

Daruvala teammate Marcus Armstrong begins the session on Wednesday. An FIA F3 image

Magny-Cours, 20 Feb 2019: Top Indian racer Jehan Daruvala of Prema Racing will be taking part in the F3 again and he got the first taste of the 2019 car on Wednesday as the FIA Formula 3 teams laid their hands on the brand new F3 2019 car at a shakedown on the Magny-Cours circuit in France. Only one car per team was used, with the main effort on learning how to operate the new machine.

The conditions were sunny, but with cold temperatures as the pitlane opened. PREMA Racing were first to hit the track at 9am local time with Marcus Armstrong behind the wheel, closely followed by Carlin Buzz Racing’s Logan Sargeant.

Within the opening ten minutes, all cars had successfully completed their installation laps. At the end of the four hour session, ART Grand Prix topped the rest of the pack with the highest number of laps achieved (46). A total of 328 laps had been covered by all ten cars on Pirelli Soft tyres.

Everyone enjoyed a one hour break before getting back to business. Although Fabio Scherer remained on duty at the wheel of his Sauber Junior Team by Charouz car, new faces joined the session in the other nine teams. In fact, a total of 23 drivers got their first taste of the F3 2019 today.

At the chequered flag, the teams completed a total of 307 laps – with PREMA Racing ending the three hour session with the most laps covered (39). This resulted in 635 laps achieved today and totalled 2,801 kilometres of running.

The FIA Formula 3 paddock will gather next at Circuit Paul Ricard in France on March 20-21 for the first official pre-season test session.

FIA Formula 3 Technical Director Didier Perrin commented: “I am very pleased with how the shakedown went today. The feedback from the teams has been positive, and more importantly, the feedback from the drivers seems to show that the car is well-balanced and that it seems to be delivering some good downforce level and that it is pleasant to drive.”

Complete entry list

David Beckmann	ART Grand Prix
Maximilian Fewtrell	ART Grand Prix
Christian Lundgaard	ART Grand Prix
Sebastian Fernandez	Campos Racing
Alex Peroni	Campos Racing
Alessio Deledda	Campos Racing
Logan Sargeant	Carlin Buzz Racing
Felipe Drugovich	Carlin Buzz Racing
Fabio Scherer	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
Leonardo Pulcini	Hitech Grand Prix
Jüri Vips	Hitech Grand Prix
Keyvan Andres	HWA RACELAB
Bent Viscaal	HWA RACE LAB
Yuki Tsunoda	Jenzer Motorsport
Artem Petrov	Jenzer Motorsport
Richard Verschoor	MP Motorsport
Simo Laaksonen	MP Motorsport
Marcus Armstrong	PREMA Racing
Jehan Daruvala	PREMA Racing
Robert Schwartzman	PREMA Racing
Niko Kari	Trident
Pedro Piquet	Trident
Devlin DeFrancesco	Trident

February 20, 2019

Prema Racing signs up Jehan Daruvala for new FIA F3 Series 2019

Mumbai, 6 Dec 2018: Jehan Daruvala will step up to the new FIA F3 championship in 2019, with team Prema Racing. The all-new F3 car will be considerably faster than the car Jehan raced in 2017-2018, with a completely new Dallara chassis mated to a 3400cc Mecachrome engine, capable of touching 300 km/hr. The car will also incorporate the halo, a safety mechanism to enhance driver protection which was introduced in F1 this year.

Importantly for Jehan, all races of the new FIA F3 Championship will be support races during F1 race weekends, allowing him the opportunity to learn all the F1 circuits. The new F3 car will also enable racers to get used to F1 features like DRS (Drag Reduction System) & Virtual Safety Car. Pirelli will be the official one make, tyre supplier for all 30 cars on the grid.

As early preparation, the 20-year-old Indian recently tested the outgoing GP3 car in Abu Dhabi at the Yas Marina F1 Circuit. He dominated the 3 days of testing, posting the fastest time in 4 sessions and the 2^nd fastest time in the remaining 2 sessions. Jehan’s pace was obvious, in spite of testing with 2 separate teams – MP Motorsport & Campos racing.

Jehan has been signed up by Prema Racing, one of the most successful Junior Racing Teams ever. Prema has won 6 drivers & team titles, in 7 years of the F3 European Championship’s existence, Mick Schumacher being the current champion. F1 racers – Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll, Antonio Giovinazzi have all raced with Prema on their way to F1.

“The new F3 series is going to be very exciting and a different experience for me. Driving on an F1 weekend, on Pirelli tyres and an expected grid of 30 drivers, is going to be fun and challenging. I am extremely excited and proud to begin this journey with Prema and I am confident that we can achieve great results together. I would like to thank Prema for having the confidence in me and giving me the opportunity to be a part of this successful team.“ said Jehan.

René Rosin – Team Principal of Prema commented, “Jehan is definitely a promising prospect. We have known and respected each other for a while now and we are happy that all the dots finally connected to start what we expect to be a great relationship. He always impressed when he had the right chance in the past, and our goal will be to put him in the right position to express his full potential. We are confident that he will make great progress while providing us with valuable insight heading into the challenging season ahead.”

Jehan Daruvala won the Indian Karting Championship in 2010, before becoming the first and only Indian to win the Malaysian Yamaha Karting Championship, the CIK FIA Asia Pacific KF3 Karting Championship, and the British Super One Karting Championship. Till date, he remains the only Indian on the podium of any FIA World Championship, when he finished 2^nd Runner-up in the 2014 CIK FIA World Karting Championship. He also remains the only Indian to have ever won an official Grand Prix, when he won the New Zealand Grand Prix (Toyota Racing Series). Jehan has also won two races of the FIA F3 European Championship.

The 8-Round (16 Races) FIA F3 Championship kicks off on May 10, 2019, in Barcelona, Spain, when the F1 Championship begins its European races.

December 6, 2018

Jehan Daruvala impressive in the post-season testing: Tops timesheets in the afternoon

GP3 Series – Test 4.
Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Friday 30 November 2018.
Jehan Daruvala (IND, Campos Racing)
Photo: Zak Mauger / GP3 Series Media Service.
ref: Digital Image

Abu Dhabi, 30 Nov 2018: Jehan Dharuvala performed well in the post-season test as he topped the afternoon session after being in the top-two quickest drivers in the morning. The Indian driver was the quickest man at the Yas Marina Circuit seting a laptime in the afternoon session in a 1:54.753 with Campos Racing. Niko Kari set a time of 1:54.683 at the wheel of a Trident in Day 2 morning session of the 2018 post-season tests.

Day 2 opened at 9am local time and Logan Sargeant led the rest of the pack out of the pitlane as soon as it went green. The American driver who spent Day 1 with MP Motorsport moved to Trident this Friday and set the early pace.

The studious morning session saw Kari and Daruvala swap positions at the top of the timesheet with the Indian driver drawing first blood in a 1:55.102. The Finn improved further and dipped under 1m55s, but Daruvala went even quicker in a 1:54.689 to retake P1.

With one hour and thirty minutes left on the clock, Kari reclaimed the top spot with a laptime 6 thousandths better than Daruvala’s. When the flag dropped, Kari, Daruvala and Sargeant completed the top 3 ahead of Alex Peroni, Linus Lundqvist, Richard Verschoor, Christian Lundgaard, Yuki Tsunoda, Maximilian Fewtrell and Devlin DeFrancesco.

The former Force India Academy driver, Daruvala was back at the top of the timesheet in the early stages of the afternoon session, but the battle for P1 raged again as Kari went quickest with a laptime of 1:55.888.

Most of the session was dedicated to long runs and we had to wait until the final half hour to see Daruvala retake the top spot in a 1:55.325. DeFrancesco was able to improve on the Indian’s best to go top, but with five minutes left on the clock Daruvala went even quicker to end the session P1. Verschoor and Lundqvist also moved up to second and third respectively in the dying minutes. Piastri, DeFrancesco, Tsunoda, Sargeant, Kari, Lorenzo Colombo and Peroni rounded the top 10.

The GP3 Series will run one final day tomorrow.

2018 Post-season testing – Day 2: morning session classification

	DRIVER	TEAM	TIME	LAP
1	Niko Kari	Trident	1:54.683	19
2	Jehan Daruvala	Campos Racing	1:54.689	29
3	Logan Sargeant	Trident	1:54.983	30
4	Alex Peroni	Campos Racing	1:55.245	17
5	Linus Lundqvist	Campos Racing	1:55.345	29
6	Richard Verschoor	MP Motorsport	1:55.379	22
7	Christian Lundgaard	ART Grand Prix	1:55.535	25
8	Yuki Tsunoda	Jenzer Motorsport	1:55.676	25
9	Maximilian Fewtrell	ART Grand Prix	1:55.688	23
10	Devlin DeFrancesco	Trident	1:55.694	28
11	Olli Caldwell	Trident	1:55.829	28
12	Ben Hingeley	Charouz Racing System	1:55.896	29
13	Oscar Piastri	Jenzer Motorsport	1:55.975	25
14	Felipe Drugovich	ART Grand Prix	1:56.070	22
15	Lorenzo Colombo	MP Motorsport	1:56.323	27
16	Robert Schwartzman	Charouz Racing System	1:56.413	28
17	Ye Yifei	MP Motorsport	1:56.900	30
18	Fabio Scherer	Charouz Racing System	1:56.924	29
19	Enaam Ehmad	ART Grand Prix	1:57.359	29
20	Federico Malvestiti	Jenzer Motorsport	1:57.627	37

2018 Post-season testing – Day 2: afternoon session classification

	DRIVER	TEAM	TIME	LAP
1	Jehan Daruvala	Campos Racing	1:54.753	29
2	Richard Verschoor	MP Motorsport	1:54.799	36
3	Linus Lundqvist	Campos Racing	1:55.041	26
4	Oscar Piastri	Jenzer Motorsport	1:55.085	22
5	Devlin DeFrancesco	Trident	1:55.089	26
6	Yuki Tsunoda	Jenzer Motorsport	1:55.177	29
7	Logan Sargeant	Trident	1:55.274	28
8	Niko Kari	Trident	1:55.359	25
9	Lorenzo Colombo	MP Motorsport	1:55.495	27
10	Alex Peroni	Campos Racing	1:55.608	19
11	Ben Hingeley	Charouz Racing System	1:55.665	28
12	Miximilian Fewtrell	ART Grand Prix	1:55.733	32
13	Robert Schwartzman	Charouz Racing System	1:55.801	30
14	Ye Yifei	MP Motorsport	1:55.826	19
15	Olli Caldwell	Trident	1:55.971	21
16	Fabio Scherer	Charouz Racing System	1:56.129	32
17	Christian Lundgaard	ART Grand Prix	1:56.313	33
18	Felipe Drugovich	ART Grand Prix	1:56.414	31
19	Federico Malvestiti	Jenzer Motorsport	1:56.734	31
20	Enaam Ahmed	ART Grand Prix	1:56.800	31

November 30, 2018

Tag: Jehan Daruvala