Jehan Daruvala took advantage of a late-race safety car to secure a result of 4th place at the Formula 2 sprint race at Silverstone. This is the Indian racer’s best finish so far in his rookie F2 season.
- Daruvala goes from P12 to P4 in British GP sprint race
- The Indian overtook Mazepin at the last corner to bag 4th place
Overtaking Mazepin on the last lap
Following a lacklustre feature race on Saturday, Daruvala started today’s sprint race from 12th place. He spent a significant portion of the race attempting to find a way past Jack Aitken. But luck played into his hands when Callum Ilott spun out while running in 2nd place, bringing out the safety car.
Pit stops aren’t mandatory in sprint races, but Carlin decided to use this opportunity to fit some new tyres on Daruvala’s car and he rejoined the pack in 10th place. Using the fresher tyres, Daruvala started to charge through the field.
The 21-year-old was promoted to 5th place when Guanyu Zhou spun on the last lap, and with just a few corners to go, he had Race 1 winner Nikita Mazepin within reach. He was able to make a move stick at the very last corner to claim 4th place.
Dan Ticktum survived a late charge from Christian Lundgaard to take his maiden F2 win, with Louis Deletraz completing the podium.
Race starts yet an issue for Daruvala
Startline problems have hampered Daruvala so far this season. After the Hungarain GP, the Red Bull Junior driver even admitted that it was an area he needs to work on.
Unfortunately, the issue continued to plague him at the feature race in Silverstone. This time around, Daruvala suffered some wheel spin at the start, which dropped him from 7th to 10th place on the opening lap.
After stopping for fresh tyres on lap 8, he’d managed to climb up to 6th place. But as the race went on, it became evident that he was suffering from tyre wear and started losing positions to rivals behind him on fresher rubber. He locked up in the final sector on the last lap while trying to overtake Mick Schumacher for 9th place and ultimately had to settle for a 12th place result.
Nevertheless, Daruvala can walk away from the weekend with a handy tally of points thanks to his 4th place finish in Race 2. He’ll be able to have another go at further improving his results at Silverstone, with the 2020 Formula 2 championship returning to the same venue next week for Round 5.
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