Jehan Daruvala 10th In F2 Round 8 Feature Race At Monza

Carlin’s Jehan Daruvala held on to his top 10 grid slot as the Indian driver finished 10th in the feature race of round 8 of the FIA Formula 2 World Championship at Monza, Italy. On the other side of the garage, fellow Red Bull junior driver Yuki Tsunoda crossed the line in 4th. 

Starting 8th, Daruvala had a slow launch off the line and dropped to 10th by the end of Lap 1. But that was more down to Daruvala starting on the harder compound of tyre, with the Indian driver playing the long game for the closing stages of the race. Most of Daruvala’s  initial stint was strong and was running 3rd at one point in the race before making his mandatory pitstop at the end of lap 17/30.

 

Strapped with a fresh pair of soft compound tyres, the Indian driver took a little while to get the tyres up to temperature and was languishing in 12th position for some time. But as we got towards the closing stages, Daruvala made full use of the tyre advantage and started scything his way up the field. With a last lap pass on Marcus Armstrong, he sealed 10th place and a single point at the end.

Jehan Daruvala’s position will remain unchanged for tomorrow’s 121km (21 laps) or 45-minute sprint race, with Tsunoda starting 5th due to the top eight finishers from the feature race lining up in a reversed grid order. The Indian driver will hope to make his way up the field in the final race of the weekend with  the track full of overtaking opportunities.

The sprint race will commence on Sunday at 2:40pm (IST) and will be streamed live on the official F1 YouTube channel.