Alongside the big guns, the 2021 Formula 2 season kick-started last weekend on a high and competitive note. India’s Jehan Daruvala had a good run in both the races and the feature race of Round 1 securing an impressive second position finish in the overall standing at Sakhir in 2021 Bahrain GP.
The Mumbai boy started at P5 in the opening race and only gained in position throughout the tough competition. Back in the grid, Jehan’s teammate Dan Ticktum faced a five-second penalty. In the 11th lap, taking the outside line around the corner Jehan overtook David Beckmann to move up to third. Lucky for him, Theo Pouchaire who had started on pole suffered an engine issue and was out of the race. The last lap saw some action when Jehan fought with race leader Liam Lawson, but had to settle for second place at the end of Race 1 securing 12 points.
Race 2 saw the reverse grid of the top 10 order of Race 1. This meant Jehan had to start at P9 and a safety car deployed right after a fiasco in lap one saw him drop a few more places down the order. Another safety car situation saw Jehan and other drivers Go into the pits for a fresh set of soft tyres. Meanwhile starting P3, teammate Ticktum spun around and had to retire from Race 2. But Jehan on a charge moved up from eleventh to fourth in a span of five laps helped by a few retirements and some brilliant racing. The last lap was nail-biting amongst the podium finishers and Jehan garnered eight more points finishing fourth.
For the Feature race, Jehan started at P6. He was pushed to P9 after the first lap Safety Car. While Ticktum put up a strong fight ahead of the grid moving up to the fourth position, Jehan remained steady at the back putting up strong lap times. He moved up to P7 after Lap 23. Up ahead Oscar Piastri spun out as Ticktum gained grounds in the top three. In the penultimate lap, Ticktum overtook Richard Verschoor and held on to P2 across the finish line behind Guanyu Zhou. Lawson who came in third. Jehan Daruwala had to settle for P6 accounting for eight more points to his overall standing.
After the end of Round 1 of 2021 Formula 2, Jehan Daruwala finished third in the overall standing with 28 points, behind Zhou and Lawson. The F2 action will resume for Round 2 at the iconic Monaco Grand Prix on May 20.
