Daruvala narrowly closes in on second in F2 title race

The Red Bull-backed racer leaves Baku with a podium and a fourth-placed finish 

The 23-year-old is now only 10 points behind second-placed Theo Pourchaire in the overall standings

by Suman Gupta

BAKU, June , 2022: Indian racer Jehan Daruvala followed up his Sprint race podium with another top-five finish in Sunday’s Feature race at Azerbaijan’s Baku street track.

Jehan, who came within half a second of a fourth Formula 2 win in Saturday’s Sprint race, had started eighth and used a combination of strategy and race craft to fight his way up to fourth in the safety car disrupted race.

He jumped up to seventh at the start, gained places through the pitstop phase with an early stop.

He also pulled off a spectacular slipstreaming pass down the long start-finish straight on fellow Red Bull-backed racer Liam Lawson.

Jehan was on course to finish third and leave Baku with a double podium when championship leader Felipe Drugovich, running ahead of him, hit the wall. 

The Brazilian was heading into the pits to retire but stayed out when the final safety car, under which the race ended, was deployed.

Nevertheless, Jehan’s points haul over the Baku weekend allows him to close the gap to second-placed Theo Pourchaire to just 10 points in the overall standings.

Jehan said, “I think we can be quite satisfied with the weekend. We took yet another podium and scored important points in the Feature race that allowed us to close the gap to our closest rival. Next up is Silverstone, a track I really like, and I’m really looking forward to building on this result there.”

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.