Jehan Daruvala has bagged a podium finish in the 2019 Formula 3 Championship after the finale in the Russian GP last weekend. This is the best season result by an Indian driver ever in an official F1 feeder series. Prema Racing driver Robert Shwartzman won the 2019 FIA F3 Champion, with Jehan’s teammate Marcus Armstrong finishing second overall.
In the last race of the season, Jehan was scheduled to start fourth on the grid but instead had to begin from the pitlane as his car had to be pushed off the track. However, Jehan drove probably the best race of the season when it was lights out – he steadily worked his way up, overtaking a car a lap on an average. The 20-year-old was able to consistently put in lap times similar to the leaders to regain his original position.
Meanwhile, Jehan also managed to earn a five-second penalty for going off the track. At the halfway mark, Jehan was pushed to P20. When he climbed to the twelfth position, Jehan’s tyres were starting to give way. However, the Mumbai boy overtook three cars in the last two laps to eventually finish ninth on track. In the end, Jehan was classified as fifteenth due to the five-second penalty. New Zealand’s Marcus Armstrong finished second while also grabbing the fastest lap of the race, which allowed him to overtake Jehan’s 13 point margin. Marcus ended up with a single point ahead of Jehan.
Jehan started the 2019 season overcoming clutch issues in race 1 and winning race 2, at the Spanish GP. He won again in the first race of the 2nd round at the French GP and completed a hat-trick of podiums in the very next race. He has qualified in the top four in every round, except for Hungary where he was stuck in traffic. The resulting no-point scoring races in that round in addition to a DNF at the British Grand Prix weekend proved to be very costly in terms of points to Jehan.
With a total of seven podiums in addition to two fastest laps and a pole position with a third-place overall is a monumental achievement for an Indian racer in an FIA Championship.
