Jehan Daruvala sparkles at British Grand Prix, takes fourth place in F2

The 21-year-old Indian driver amazed everyone with his terrific performance.

Red Bull Racing junior Jehan Daruvala sparkled at the British Grand Prix, taking a creditable fourth position in the sprint race of the FIA Formula 2 on Sunday.

The Indian racing sensation started from behind and worked his way up the field, jumping eight places sensationally in the last three laps.

Jehan Daruvala, in his first Formula 2 season, had to cope with an extremely competitive grid, and although he was faster than some cars in front, he was unable to overtake due to their ability to use Drag Reduction System (DRS).

Lap 16 saw the safety car being deployed to retrieve a car. Jehan Daruvala and his team Carlin took the gamble to pit for fresh medium compound tyres, just like a few others and promptly gained two places.

The moment the safety car pulled into the pits, it was a three-lap dash to the finish. Last year’s FIA Formula 3 second runner-up, immediately went on a phenomenal charge up the order. While attempting a move Jehan initially lost two positions to fall back to twelfth, but a few corners later he made a brave move around the outside at Brooklands and overtook four cars in one corner to move to eighth.

On the penultimate lap, he overtook two more cars. He continued his charge, with a brilliant move on the last lap, to finish fourth. Local racer Dan Tictum won the race ahead of Christian Lundgaard of Denmark.

“The last two laps were super exciting. The team did a great job with the tyre strategy. Moving from P12 to P4 in the last few laps and hanging around the outside at Brooklands to pass four cars was good fun. Looking forward to being back here next week,” said Jehan.

He will return to Silverstone again next weekend for the fifth round of the FIA Formula 2 championship. Indian fans have been able to catch the live-action as the Formula 1 YouTube channel is broadcasting the F2 races live in India for the first time.