Foothold in F2

Twenty-two-year-old Jehan Daruvala became the first Zoroastrian and Indian to win a FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) Formula Two (F2) race in the current avatar of the championship when the 2020 season ended on December 6. The challenging F2 season closed on a high note for the rookie with the Indian national anthem playing as he stood atop the podium at the Sakhir Grand Prix in Bahrain. The prior weekend too he had managed a podium finish when he came third at a feature race in Bahrain. Aspiring to progress to the F1 Grand Prix league after one more year with F2, last year Daruvala was the second runner up in the FIA F3 championship.

Clockwise from top: Jehan Daruvala in his F2 race; atop the podium; with trophy

"My goal at the end of the day is to do myself proud and also do my country proud and to prove to people back home that even though we don’t have the same facilities and stuff that guys have in Europe, as long as we work hard we can fight right at the sharp end of the grid,” declared an elated Daruvala who has built "a big fan base back home.” This was the only race this season that was attended by Jehan’s father Khurshed, managing director of Sterling and Wilson (a Shapoorji Pallonji Group company dealing in power and energy), whose presence at the awards ceremony was a special treat for the rookie.
Overcoming tough competition from F2 champion Mick Schumacher (son of seven times World Drivers’ Championship title holder Michael) and pole sitter (number one qualifying driver) Daniel Ticktum, Daruvala emerged winner in the final race. The Bombay lad started the race on December 6 from pole position (at the inside of the front row) as per F2’s reverse-grid rules since he had stood eighth in the previous day’s feature race. At different points in the final race Daruvala’s position changed from second to third, back to second and eventually remained in the lead as he "kept his cool and kept up the pressure. His excellent racecraft… (saw him) grab the race lead. Thereafter he drove well to slowly start opening up a gap to the cars behind. He finally took the chequered flag to win his maiden FIA Formula 2 race,” noted a report from his mother Kainaz. Jehan’s teammate from Japan Yuki Tsunoda came second in this race, over 3.5 seconds behind him, while Ticktum was third.
Driving for British team Carlin, Daruvala was selected for F1 team Red Bull’s coveted junior driver program in 2020. With the F3 and F2 events coinciding with the main F1 Grand Prix races on some weekends, Jehan values the exposure he receives to big teams and looks forward to the opportunity to prove himself in F2 in the next season. This year the F2 season was delayed due to the pandemic and began in July instead of March. Recovering from a knee surgery necessitated by an injury when playing football, he spent two months with the family from March to May. Jehan left for the UK on one of the repatriation flights to prepare for a tight schedule that saw him participating in 12 F2 events that started in Austria, and later moved to Hungary, UK, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Russia and Bahrain. Although he was a pace setter in pre-season testing, the first half of the season was frustrating for Jehan who had difficulties with his starts and encountered clutch problems and lack of engine pace.
Moving from F3 to F2 is particularly tough for drivers who have to get used to heavy cars weighing almost 800 kg with a driver. The sensitive Pirelli tyres, if pushed too hard, could cause thermal degradation (overheating) and sliding of the car, Jehan explained the mechanical intricacies in an article in The Indian Express of December 8. Additionally F2 drivers have to adjust to paddle levers (to shift gears) and the hand clutch behind the steering wheel. Brake balance between the front and rear tyres is adjusted with a toggle on the right-hand side of the steering wheel.
"I will be lying if I say I don’t feel pressure but I keep it all under control,” admitted Jehan.