Haste won’t be waste!

India’s Mumbaikar driver Jehan Daruvala striving for a quick turn of fortunes through the resumption of his Formula 2 campaign at the iconic Monza circuit in Italy this weekend

Haste won’t be waste!

India’s Jehan Daruvala at the Autodromo di Monza in Italy on Friday

Indian racer Jehan Daruvala will be keen to fire up his Formula 2 campaign starting this weekend, with the F1 feeder series kicking off the second half of its season at Italy’s iconic Monza circuit.

Daruvala, 22, who hails from Mumbai’s Dadar Parsi Colony, currently lies ninth in the overall standings, 52 points off championship leader Oscar Piastri. His season has not gone to plan so far and Daruvala needs to turn his fortunes around over the four rounds still left in the championship.

“Hopefully, I find a bit of a turnaround of form in the next couple of rounds,” said Daruvala, who drives for British team Carlin, in an interview from his home in London, where he is now based. “I definitely want to win a couple of races, obviously have a few podiums. That will be my main focus.”

Second season in F2

This year marks Daruvala’s second season in F2, which sits one rung below F1 in the motorsport ladder. Backed by Red Bull and part of the company’s driver development programme, he turned the page on a character-building debut year in the championship with victory in the 2020 season’s final round in Bahrain.

Only the second Indian to stand on the top step of the podium in the series after former F1 racer Karun Chandhok, who won when the category was run under the GP2 banner, Daruvala went into the season hoping to battle for the title. But while he made a strong start to his campaign, with a second-placed finish in the first race of the season-opening round in Bahrain, the results have since not lived up to his own expectations.

Carlin’s Indian driver Jehan Daruvala on the Baku City Circuit, Azerbaijan, on June 6, 2021. Pics/Getty Images

“I would say the weak point has been my qualifying,” said Daruvala, who finished third in the second race of the championship’s Baku round. “In fact, it’s been a little bit worse than last year on average. I think I’m just making small mistakes here and there that are turning out to be very crucial.

“Obviously, the grid is super, super competitive. So if you don’t nail the lap. One or two tenths—that’s the difference between qualifying at the front and a couple of tenths and you’re not in the Top10.” Qualifying in the Top10 is crucial to gain a good starting spot under the F2 series’ new format, which consists of two short sprint races and a longer feature race. He qualified second at Monza on Friday.

A tall ask for Jehan

Daruvala, whose 2020 Carlin team mate Yuki Tsunoda is racing in his rookie F1 campaign with AlphaTauri this year, has qualified sixth in Bahrain, 11th in Monaco, ninth in Baku and 12th in Silverstone so far this season. Daruvala is still mathematically in contention for the title, with a maximum of 260 points up for grabs over the final four rounds.

But while that may seem like a tall ask, a consistent run of results can certainly propel him up the championship tables with even Robert Shwartzman, who is 17 points off the overall lead in third, having only scored three podium finishes.

Monza in the past has set the scene for a turnaround in form for Daruvala, who fought for the title and finished third in the overall 2019 F3 championship. The young Indian took the first of a streak of eight points finishes from 10 at the Italian Temple of Speed last year, which marked a turning point in his season after a fallow run of races.

F1 future in mind

His hopes of making it to F1 may well depend on mounting a similar fightback.

Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo are all products of the Red Bull driver development programme.

To be picked as a member represents a major vote of confidence. But on the other hand Dr Helmut Marko, who runs the programme, is known to be ruthless about dropping drivers who don’t deliver. Red Bull has so far not told Daruvala whether they plan to retain him.

F1 hopeful’s racing in F2 also usually aim to spend no more than two seasons in the championship, the first to learn the ropes, the second to fight for the title.

But there have been drivers who have made it up to F1 after spending longer in the feeder category.

The 2021 F1 silly season is also the first time in several years that an F2 driver hasn’t been in the frame for an F1 seat, which could buy Daruvala time to do another season in the single-seater feeder series.

“If I can find the budget, I’ll probably do another year of F2,” he said.

“So it just depends on how the next two rounds really go and what my future holds will depend on that quite a lot.”

Jehan claims 1st win of the season

Indian racer Jehan Daruvala claimed a breakthrough first win of the season in the second sprint race of the Formula 2 championship’s Monza round on Saturday.

Daruvala, who moved up to eighth in the standings of the F1 feeder series, had started the race second after finishing the opening sprint race in ninth, as per the series’ reverse grid rules.

Daruvala, who hails from Mumbai, took the lead right at the start from pole-sitter David Beckmann. Once out in front, he never looked back and won the race by 6.1 seconds.

The win was Daruvala’s second in F2 and first this season. Racing for British team Carlin, he went into the weekend with his sights set on turning his season around.

The Red Bull-backed youngster has a good chance of taking home another win in Monza on Sunday, when he starts the main feature race from second again after an impressive display in qualifying.

Also Read: Whole UK is open: Ravi Shastri’s defence to book launch being blamed for incomplete England series

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels