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India’s racing sensation Jehan Daruvala created history during the Spanish F1 Grand Prix, scoring a dramatic victory in the inaugural round of the all-new FIA Formula 3 Championship here on Sunday.
The 20-year-old, the only Indian on the grid, started from the second position but streaked into the lead in the run down to the first corner. But an accident at the back involving four cars saw the safety car being deployed in Lap one itself, affecting his concentration.
At the restart, pole-starter Niko Kari of Finland made a charge, forcing Jehan to defend very hard to hang on to his lead. That done, over the next 2 laps, Jehan quickly opened up a gap of over 1.5 seconds, preventing Kari from deploying DRS (Drag Reduction System).
The safety car was deployed a second time negating the 2-second advantage that Jehan had built up. But this time, Jehan was much better prepared for the restart and was able to open up a gap of over 1.5 seconds in less than 2 laps once again.
He thereafter controlled the race well and also bagged the fastest lap of the race. Later, Jehan cruised to take the chequered flag 2.121 seconds ahead of Estonian racer Juri Vips, who by then had managed to move up to second.
The Indian national anthem was played probably for the first time at an F1 Grand Prix in front of a full crowd.
“I was in control of the race, except for the first restart. After that, I was just managing the pace. I have to thank everyone at Prema Racing for giving me a fantastic car. I did not overdrive it although if I needed more I could have pushed in the final couple of laps.” the former multiple International Karting Champion said.
The all-new FIA F3 Championship was created by merging the erstwhile GP3 Championship and FIA F3 European Championship, resulting in an ultra-competitive 30-car grid. The championship will be the perfect training ground for the world’s best upcoming talents, to race at F1 events and get the opportunity to prove themselves to all the F1 teams.
Jehan Daruvala began his career in karting at the age of 10. Since then he has won the Indian National Karting Championship, the Malaysian Junior Yamaha Karting Championship, the FIA CIK Asia Pacific KF3 Championship and the British Superone National Karting Championship.
Jehan remains the only Indian on the podium of any FIA World Championship, when he was second runner up in the FIA CIK World Karting Championship. Jehan also remains the only Indian to win a Grand Prix, when he won the New Zealand Grand Prix and later went on to become the only Indian to win a race in the erstwhile FIA F3 European Championship, which used slower cars.
Earlier this year Jehan was selected by Prema Racing, one of the world’s most successful Junior Racing teams. Jehan’s next race will be along with the French Grand Prix from June 21 to 23.
