Motorsport
Jehan Daruvala scripts history, finishes 3rd at FIA Formula 3 Championship
Jehan Daruvala finished third in the 2019 FIA Formula 3 championship, thereby capping off the best season ever by an Indian in an official F1 feeder series.
India’s racing sensation Jehan Daruvala scripted history at the Russian Grand Prix in Sochi by finishing third at the FIA Formula 3 Championship, the best-ever championship position by an Indian in the official F1 feeder series, on Sunday. Â
Jehan suffered a major heartbreak in the last race of the season as his car did not take off on the formation lap. Despite starting fourth on the grid, he drove the best race of the season, steadily working his way up and then smartly overtaking a car a lap on an average. Jehan managed to consistently put in lap times similar to the leaders only to regain his original position. Sadly, that pulled him down as he went off the track only to be penalised five seconds.Â
Jehan said, rather disappointedly,Â
What happened at the start is heartbreaking. But I had to focus on the race. I just put my head down and drove an aggressive race. Starting 29th and from the pit lane and finishing 9th on track was good fun. Prema has given me a fantastic car all year. It's just unfortunate that in the last few races I have had a bit of bad luck with DRS issues, a brake issue yesterday and the pit lane starts today. These are things beyond anyone’s control. I am happy to have finished 3rd in the championship but disappointed at the same time with the technical issues I had in the last 2 weekends, but that is racing.
Jehan was 20th on track midway through the race. With his nerves being put into the test, the situations became tougher for the Indian. The higher that he climbed, the tougher it became for him to overtake. He still overtook three cars in the last two laps to eventually finish ninth on track.Â
Jehan’s Prema Racing teammate, Marcus Armstrong finished second. Marcus also had the fastest lap, which helped him leapfrog Jehan’s 13-point margin and set the day in his favour. The Indian racer has been undoubtedly quick throughout the season, in what is the most competitive F1 feeder series.Â
Jehan kickstarted his season battling past clutch issues in race 1 and winning race 2, during the Spanish Grand Prix weekend. The former second runner-up in the World Karting Championship proved his speed once again by claiming the first race of the second round at the French Grand Prix weekend. He holds a record of completing a hat-trick of podiums in the very next race.Â
Jehan eventually capped off the best season ever with a total of seven podiums in addition to two fastest laps and a pole position. The third place overall is a monumental achievement for any Indian. The resulting non-points scoring races in that round in addition to a DNF at the British Grand Prix weekend proved to be costly in terms of points to Jehan. Russian Robert Shwartzman was crowned the 2019 FIA F3 Champion.
