Indian racing star Jehan Daruvala takes 2nd place at Monaco again: F2

Monaco (Monte Carlo), 27 May 2023: Indian racing star Jehan Daruvala of Mumbai secured another well-deserved podium in the Sprint Race of the FIA Formula 2 World Championship here on Saturday.

“The pace was good all race but it’s very difficult to overtake here in Monaco. I had a tyre pressure issue after the last safety car restart so happy to bring it home,” said Jehan Daruvala, the Mumbai native.

Ayumu Iwasa got his Championship fight back on track with Sprint Race victory on the streets of Monte Carlo. The DAMS driver inherited the lead of the race early on and never let it go, managing two Safety Car restarts to take the win by over six seconds.

Jehan Daruvala shadowed the DAMS driver throughout the 30 laps but couldn’t make a move for victory, while Jak Crawford held off Richard Verschoor for the final podium position.

AS IT HAPPENED

Isack Hadjar got the launch he needed to retain the lead at Turn 1 ahead of Iwasa and Daruvala. It was a clean opening lap until Turn 10. Whilst battling with Amaury Cordeel, Kush Maini was pitched into a spin after contact with Clément Novalak from behind, blocking the track and several drivers behind him.

The Virtual Safety Car was deployed as a result, but Roy Nissany and Ralph Boschung were out after getting caught up in the incident, unable to get going again. Novalak was later handed a 10-second time penalty. The full Safety Car was deployed on Lap 2 in order to remove the stricken cars.

Back to racing conditions on Lap 6 and Hadjar kept the lead initially but into Turn 1, the Hitech Pulse-Eight driver slowed with a mechanical issue, handing the lead to Iwasa. The DAMS man quickly moved two seconds clear of Daruvala after two laps out in front, while Hadjar was forced into early retirement.

At the halfway stage, the MP Motorsport driver was within touching distance of the race leader, 0.7s back but well within DRS range. The top two had dropped Crawford by seven seconds as the American kept Richard Verschoor at bay in the fight for the final podium place.

Enzo Fittipaldi proved that overtaking was a possibility in Monte Carlo, passing Cordeel on Lap 22 into Turn 1 with DRS assistance. The Belgian’s day was quickly made worse after contact with Juan Manuel Correa left the Invicta Virtuosi Racing driver in the barriers, requiring another Safety Car.

Iwasa got the field back underway entering Lap 24, opting to go ahead of the penultimate corner and establishing breathing room to Daruvala behind. He launched into a three second lead by the end of the lap.

The DAMS was six seconds clear entering the final tour and brought it home for his third race win of the season. Daruvala stayed second ahead of Crawford despite Verschoor’s best efforts to find a route past from fourth.

Zane Maloney finished fifth for Rodin Carlin ahead of Jack Doohan in sixth. The ART Grand Prix pair followed in the final points paying positions with Victor Martins heading home Théo Pourchaire in seventh and eighth places respectively.

THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Iwasa’s win moves him to the top of the Drivers’ Championship on 68 points, two ahead of Théo Pourchaire in second. Frederik Vesti is third on 64 points heading into Sunday’s Feature Race, starting from pole position. Oliver Bearman and Kush Maini remain fourth and fifth, still on 41 points apiece. And Jehan Daruvala with this podium is just a point behind compatriot Maini in Sixth position with 40 points.

In the Teams’ Standings, PREMA Racing still leads with 105 points, but DAMS close the gap, climbing to 102 points in second. ART Grand Prix remains third with 85 points.

UP NEXT

The Formula 2 Monte Carlo Feature Race gets underway on Sunday at 09:40 local time. Frederik Vesti starts from pole alongside Martins with Pourchaire going from third.

Thoughts from Iwasa, Daruvala and Crawford

FIA Formula 2: Many congratulations to the top three finishers of the FIA Formula 2 Sprint Race here in Monte Carlo. In third place, Jak Crawford for Hitech Pulse-Eight, in second place Jehan Daruvala for MP Motorsport and taking his third win of the 2023 season, our winner Ayumu Iwasa for DAMS. Ayu, what an impressive race by you, well done. After the tough weekend you had out in Baku how important was it to bounce back with a win here?

Ayumu Iwasa: I think it’s quite a positive, unfortunately I missed a result again in Qualifying yesterday even though I had the speed that’s why I could take the P1 in Free Practice yesterday. I think this is the minimum recovery as a driver. Anyway I’m quite happy about this result and speed in the race. I think this will be quite positive for tomorrow’s race.

FIA Formula 2: How good was the car today?

Iwasa: Actually it was quite ok, it was quite similar to Qualifying and Free Practice. The driving was not so difficult I was just trying to manage the speed and pace and the tyre. The pace wasn’t perfect, but also not too bad so I should try to analyse a bit my driving today because I was missing the pace a little bit in the middle of the race. I think tha’s the only point from today’s race.

FIA Formula 2: You say you were missing a little bit of pace in the middle of the race but do you think you could have challenged and maybe overtake Isack Hadjar had he not had to retire after that first Safety Car?

Iwasa: Honestly, it’s really difficult to say because we didn’t run that many laps before the Safety Car so it’s difficult to know. It should have been difficult because it’s Monaco, maybe the pace was a little bit better than him, but maybe the overtake would have been a bit more difficult.

FIA Formula 2: Very well done to you. Jehan let’s come to you now. You were second at the Sprint Race in Monaco last year, second in the Sprint Race again this year. Great consistency by you. How does this podium compare to last year?

Jehan Daruvala: I would say it’s a bit better, in a way it was more challenging, especially in the middle of the race. Of course it’s very difficult to overtake, so my goal was just to put as much pressure as I could on Ayu but he didn’t make any mistakes. After the Safety Car I got a bit of scare because I had a puncture warning on my dash so I was taking it really easy because I didn’t want to have a slow puncture and put it in the wall so I was breaking really early everywhere which is why he opened a four or five seconds gap within a couple of laps so by then I just decided to bring it home.

FIA Formula 2: What did you learn today that will help you in the Feature Race?

Daruvala: I think I learnt that when I get a bit too close for too many laps the car balance has changes quite a lot and it does get difficult. Apart from that we can take a lot of positives from today’s race. I felt like we had good pace, even though I wasn’t over driving. Of course I was pushing close to the limits but it was nothing out of control and the car was always good and we had good pace.

FIA Formula 2: Well done. Jak coming to you now, high pressure race, Richard Verschoor never very far from your gearbox. How tough was it from your point of view?

Jak Crawford: It was really tough, I actually had the same issue as Jehan at the beginning of the race. I was also taking it easy the first two laps because I had a puncture warning. After that I pushed a lot and distroyed the tyres a bit and after that it became really difficult and Richard was quite quick, especially in Sector 2, in Turn 10 he was quite close but I was just quick enough in the right places to keep him behind.

FIA Formula 2: After what happened to your teammate did you have any reliability concerns?

Crawford: For me, no I didn’t have any concerns. I’m sorry for him, but I wasn’t worried.

FIA Formula 2: Jak this is your third podium in Formula 2, it feels like you’ve got your feet firmly under the F2 table. Do you feel fully confident in these cars now?

Crawford: I feel up to speed, obviously the Qualifying has been decent this year, that’s why we have had three podiums in the last three Sprint Races. Obviously we need to improve on the race pace on my side and fight for the Feature Race which is where the big points are.

FIA Formula 2: Very well done to all three of you.