Jehan Daruvala enters one more F2 season with eyes set firmly on Formula 1
Mumbai, 17 March 2022: Indian F1 hopeful Jehan Daruvala heads into this weekend’s season-opening Bahrain round of the Formula 2 championship with his sights set on battling for the win.
The 23-year-old from Mumbai has a strong record of success at the Sakhir desert track, winning his first Formula 2 race at the venue in 2020 in his debut season before following it up with a podium there last year.
Driving for reigning champions Prema Racing this season and having set the second-fastest time of pre-season testing at the same venue, Jehan heads into the weekend as one of the favourites.
Prema have won in Bahrain in three of the last five seasons.
A win would mark the perfect start to a season in which Jehan is hoping to become the first Indian to win the Formula 2 title.
Jehan said, “I can’t wait to go racing again. Getting some time off at the end of last year was good and I’m now raring to get the season underway. Bahrain is where I took my first Formula 2 win, it’s a track that suits my driving style and I’m pretty sure we can do well there again. The competition will be tough but we came away in a strong position from testing, I’m feeling at home with the team and we go into the weekend confident that we can get some big results.”
Jehan will hit the track on Friday, March 18th for practice and qualifying. The weekend’s Sprint race will be held on Saturday, March 19th, with the main Feature race scheduled for Sunday, March 20th, before the start of the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix
Jehan, who is also part of the Red Bull Junior Team, is heading into his third season in Formula 2, the feeder-series that sits below F1 on the single-seater ladder.
He raced for Carlin in the last two seasons but has made the move to Prema Racing this year.
The Italian racing powerhouse is the most successful outfit in Formula 2, having delivered three of the series’ five drivers’ champions, including Ferrari Formula 1 race winner Charles Leclerc and Mick Schumacher, son of seven-time world champion Michael.
Jehan, who finished third in the Formula 3 standings while racing for Prema in 2019, is looking to emulate this duo and follow Australian Oscar Piastri as the squad’s third straight Formula 2 champion.
He is eyeing a step up to F1 in 2023, which would make him only the third Indian to compete in motorsport’s top tier.
Stats and Facts
- Circuit length: 5.412 km
- First race: 2017
- Jehan’s Bahrain debut: 2020
- Wins: 1 (2020)
- Podiums: 2 (2020, 2021)
- Jehan 2021 result: 2nd (Sprint 1), 4th (Sprint 2), 6th (Feature)
- Prema pole positions: 1 (2017)
- Prema wins: 3 (2017, 2020, 2021)
Weekend Schedule
Free practice: Friday, March 18th at 1505 IST
Qualifying: Friday, March 18th at 2155 IST
Sprint race: Saturday, March 19th at 2210 IST
Feature race: Sunday, March 20th at 1610 IST
About Jehan Daruvala
Jehan Daruvala is a racing driver from Mumbai, India. He began karting at the age of 10 in 2009. Two years later, he was picked up as one of the three winners of Force India’s ‘One From a Billion’ talent hunt. In 2013, he became the first Asian to win the British KF3 karting championship. A proven winner, Jehan has won in every category he has competed in. He is currently racing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, which is a feeder series to Formula 1 and takes place on the same weekends. Already a multiple winner in the category, Jehan’s goal for the 2022 season is to claim the title which would boost his chances of becoming only the third Indian on the Formula One grid.
