Jehan Daruvala Almost Snatches Pole For Sochi F2 Feature Race

Carlin’s Jehan Daruvala secured  his best qualifying of the season with a 2nd place in round 10 of the FIA Formula 2 Championship at Sochi, Russia. His teammate and fellow Red Bull junior driver Yuki Tsunoda took a closely contested pole position for the feature race.

The two Carlin drivers were strong in Practice with Daruvala 3rd and Tsunoda topping the session. The opening runs of the 30-minute qualifying saw Daruvala top the timesheets ahead of Tsunoda to make it a Carlin 1-2 and a healthy margin to the rest of the field. 

As the final few runs commenced, both Daruvala and Tsunoda improved on their lap times with Tsunoda taking pole from his teammate by just six thousandths of a second. That said, it's a much needed breakthrough for the Indian driver to get into the top 3 position in qualifying for the first time this season. 

This puts both the Carlin drivers in the best possible position for the 28-lap (60 minutes) feature race, especially for Daruvala who is chasing his maiden F2 podium. The sprint race on Sunday will see the top 8 finishers from the feature race line up in reversed order. 

The feature race commences on Saturday at 12:45pm (IST) and will be streamed live on the official F1 YouTube channel.

 Image Credts- James Gasperotti