Jehan Daruvala Seventh In F2 Round Three Sprint Race

Carlin’s Jehan Daruvala continued his momentum from yesterday’s feature race, however was compromised again due to a poor start. Daruvala finished seventh in the sprint race of the third round of the FIA Formula 2 Championship at the Red Bull Ring circuit. 

Carlin teammate and fellow Red Bull junior driver Yuki Tsunoda mirrored what happened in the feature race, with an extra pitstop due to damage relegating him to 18th.

Starting third for the sprint race, Daruvala struggled yet again at the start, dropping down to 9th at the end of lap 1, but an early retirement from DAMS Dan Ticktum saw him running 8th. Since the sprint race is shorter in distance at 120km (28 laps) or 45 minutes, a pitstop was optional. But as was the case with the feature race, there was  high tyre wear which forced most of the field into an optional pitstop. 

On lap 12, Daruvala took his optional pitstop for the medium compound tyres and the performance difference was yet again evident as he started slicing through the field along with the front runners. Daruvala wound up only a few tenths away from Louis Delatraz at the chequered flag from scoring two consecutive sixth place finishes over round 3. 

Overall, it was a better and more consistent race weekend for Jehan Daruvala as compared to the opening two rounds in Austria. He scored his first points of the season and put him 13th overall in the drivers standings. The F2 circus returns to action on the July 31 to August 2 weekend at the Silverstone Circuit for round 4 of the FIA Formula 2 Championship.