Jehan Daruvala has scored his first F2 win at the Sakhir Grand Prix – a historic moment as it was the first for an Indian driver.
It was a moment to rejoice for Indian sport as the country’s Formula 1 hopeful, Jehan Daruvala, was the race winner at the F2 Sakhir Grand Prix. The thrilling battle saw the Mumbai lad battle with the F2 Champion, Mick Schumacher, and Daniel Ticktum and emerge on top in the support race of the Formula 1 Sakhir Grand Prix.
Daruvala had a good start from second on the grid and was soon up alongside the pole-sitter Daniel Ticktum. As the British driver squeezed Jehan on the inside, it allowed championship leader, Schumacher, to go around the outside of both of them. Eventually, Ticktum got into the lead, followed by Schumacher, and Jehan in third. A couple of corners later, Jehan made a move to get past Schumacher and clinch second spot.
A few laps later it was Schumacher who passed Jehan relegating him to third again, but Jehan did not give up. A battled ensued for the spot that eventually saw Jehan get past Schumacher once again. Pulling a few quick laps off helped Jehan to reel in the race leader. However, Jehan was not able to pass and take the lead. The battle for the lead intensified further as Ticktum wanted to win the last race of the season. Jehan, however, kept up the pressure and his persistence and racecraft was enough to force the race leader to start making mistakes.
With less than 10 laps to go, Jehan made another move to get past Ticktum take over the race lead, and soon opened up a gap. The Indian driver took the chequered flag to clinch his maiden win in the FIA Formula 2 championship. His Japanese Carlin teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, was second, over 3.5 seconds behind, while Ticktum finished third.
An elated Jehan Daruvala, said, “Motor sport is pretty big in India. We obviously have a lot of people, so I have a big fan-base back home, and my goal at the end of the day is to do myself proud but also do my country proud and to prove to people from back home that even though we don’t have the same facilities and stuff that guys have in Europe, as long as you can work hard you can fight right at the sharp end of the grid.”
The Indian national anthem was then heard ahead of the podium celebrations at the Bahrain International Circuit – the best possible way for Jehan to end his first F2 season. The championship went to Mick Schumacher, who steps up to F1 next year with the Haas F1 Team.
Photography: James Gasperotti
