2021 FIA F2 Round 3 Sprint Races : 4th And A Podium Finish For Jehan Daruvala At Baku

It was a return to the top five for Carlin’s Jehan Daruvala, finishing fourth in Sprint Race 1, and third in the second sprint race at the third round of the 2021 FIA Formula 2 World Championship in Baku. The Red Bull junior driver’s teammate, Dan Ticktum, took second and sixth respectively. 

Starting second for the first sprint race, Daruvala did manage to hold on to the position in the early stages, but as the laps ticked down, the Indian driver lost a couple of positions to teammate Dan Ticktum and championship leader Guanyu Zhou. Towards the end of the race, Daruvala did manage to keep himself within touching distance of Zhou to finish fourth at the chequered flag. Overall a decent result for Daruvala, but could’ve been on the podium had he managed to unlock his late race-pace earlier on.

Reverse grid rules meant that the grid order for the second sprint race would be the top 10 finishers of Sprint Race 1 reversed. This meant Daruvala starting seventh on the grid. The Indian driver got a brilliant start off the line to jump to 4th at the end of the opening lap.  

What ensued later was an action packed race with multiple incidents and safety cars. The Indian driver took full advantage of the second safety car to jump Bent Viscaal for third, and then held on to that final spot on the podium till the chequered flag. 

The two sprint races capped off a strong bounceback for the Indian driver after a difficult previous round in Monaco. But there’s still room to go one better in tomorrow’s  29-lap main feature race where Daruvala will start ninth due to qualifying ninth yesterday. 

The feature race will commence at 2:10pm (IST). All races will be broadcast on EuroSport.