Jehan Daruvala stripped of podium in F2 Austrian GP

In a big blow to Jehan Daruvala, the Indian F2 driver was stripped of a podium at the F2 Austrian Grand Prix after a massive 20-second penalty was imposed on him. Driving for PREMA Racing, Daruvala, who had finished second in the race has now been demoted to twelfth.

PREMA Racing were accused of attempting to dry Daruvala's track surface at the grid slot before the commencement of race, following which the Indian driver has been penalised.

"Jehan Daruvala has also received a post-race drive through penalty, which since it could not be served during the race, has been converted to a 20-second penalty in the final classification. The stewards found that the PREMA Racing team had attempted to dry the track surface at his grid slot ahead of the race commencing. It drops the PREMA driver down to 12th position," a statement from F2 read.

A dejected Daruvala took to his Twitter account and stated the post-race penalty was something out of his control.

"Just when things seem to be going our way, they don't. We got the strategy right & went from P11 to P2. Then got promoted to P1, but been given a 20sec penalty post-race for something that was completely out of my control… This one hurts. But we will come back stronger together," he wrote.

Earlier in the day, Jehan Daruvala had finished second behind Richard Verschoor of Trident while Logan Sargeant of Carlin finished third. However, Verschoor too has been disqualified, promoting Sargeant as the winner of the F2 Austrian GP.