Jehan Daruvala sprints to podium in Saudi Arabia

Jehan Daruvala

India's Jehan Daruvala raced to his 16th Formula 2 podium with a hard-fought third-place finish in Sprint race of the championship's Saudi Arabian round here.

The 24-year-old MP Motorsport driver started fifth and was hustling eventual winner Ayumu Iwasa for the win but dropped to third just three laps from the end after making a daring bid for the lead that very nearly earned him his first win of the season.

Still, he crossed the line just over a second behind Iwasa and less than half a second behind runner-up Victor Martins to score his second successive podium around the barrier-lined, high-speed sweeps of the Red Sea track.

"To be honest, there are a bunch of mixed emotions," said Jehan after the race on Saturday. "I would definitely say I was disappointed I didn't win because the car was very good and I had a lot of pace today¿but also not disappointed because I took a lot of risks. "I have no regrets. I tried to win the race and, in the end, it didn't pay off."

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Jehan made a lightning start off the line but was boxed in by the Campos cars of Ralph Boschung and compatriot Kush Maini.
A second-lap safety car that bunched the field up gave him a shot at passing Maini and Jehan duly seized the opportunity to muscle his way past his fellow Indian and set off in pursuit of Red Bull-backed racer Jak Crawford.

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