Jehan Daruvala opens European Formula 3 season with podium at Pau

Pau (France) 14 May 2018: Sahara Force India Academy racer Jehan Daruvala began his 2018 campaign in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship with a podium in Race 3 of the season opener. Jehan created history last year, when he became the first Indian ever to win a race in the FIA F3 European Championship when he dominated and won at Nuremburg in Germany.

The first round of the 2018 season was held on the famous street circuit of Pau in southern France. Jehan, the 19-year old from Mumbai and driving for Carlin team, qualified just 0.29 seconds off the quickest, but the extremely competitive grid meant that he would start seventh.

In the next qualifying session, Jehan was supremely quick. He was all set to bag pole position, but a slower car in front of him meant Jehan was blocked and he qualified down in seventh and fifth for the remaining races.

The highlight of Jehan’s weekend was when he made a brilliant start from fifth on a completely wet circuit in Race 3. The Indian teenager climbed two places before corner 1 and thereafter made no mistakes in the treacherous conditions around the tight street circuit.

Jehan was comfortable in third, when the race was stopped 13 minutes before schedule due to the un-driveable wet conditions, sealing Jehan’s podium.

Jehan said: “At the start, I was able to move up from fifth to third place. Initially, the two drivers in front of me were faster and were able to pull a gap. Later on, I made a mistake: I hit a kerb and from then on, I was afraid that my suspension could break. That had happened to me in the first race already and it was always in the back of my mind. Therefore, perhaps it was good for me that the race was stopped, because nobody was able to take third place away from me.”

Earlier in the weekend, Jehan had a poor start for Race 1 and lost a couple of places before climbing up to seventh. A mechanical failure with the suspension due to no fault of his own saw Jehan retire from the race. In Race 2, Jehan started seventh and ultimately finished sixth after another racer crashed.

Jehan’s podium in Race 3, popularly known as the Pau Grand Prix, was the highlight of his weekend which was otherwise compromised due to situations beyond his control. His pace has been right up there in the series which is arguably one of the most important steps to Formula 1 and certainly one of the most competitive.

“I made a mistake in the first qualifying which cost me pole. In the second qualifying, I was unfortunately held up which again cost me pole position. I am very happy with my pace, especially in the wet. I am now much more confident and up there. After all the things that went wrong, I am relieved with the podium this weekend. It’s time to put this behind me and continue working hard for the rest of the season,” said Jehan.

The second of the 10-round championship will be held at the Hungaroring F1 circuit in Hungary on June 2-3.