Bahrain GP: Daruvala opens 2022 F2 season with podium finish

Jehan Daruvala kick-started his latest F2 campaign – with his new team Prema – on a strong note, after finishing second in the Bahrain GP sprint race. However, it was a mixed weekend for the Indian racer as he failed to score any points in the feature race.

• Daruvala comes second in Bahrain sprint race
• Finishes 14^th in feature race after contact with Nissany

Daruvala comes second in Bahrain GP sprint race

Daruvala has joined reigning F2 champions Prema this season and continues to be a part of Red Bull Racing’s driver development programme. Having qualified seventh for the feature race, he was able to start the sprint race from fourth on the grid, under the reverse grid rules.

He moved up to third at the start and had to defend his position from fellow Red Bull junior Liam Lawson after the Safety Car was called out on Lap 3. He was able to successfully fend off Lawson, and then caught and passed Ralph Boschung on Lap 16.

Another on-track incident resulted in the Virtual Safety Car being deployed. As the race resumed, Boschung passed Daruvala, but the Indian retook the position around the outside into Turn 4. In the closing stages, he showed the potential to challenge for victory, but ultimately had to settle for second place behind Richard Verschoor.

Challenging feature race

Daruvala wasn’t able to replicate the same performance in the feature race. A poor start saw him fall out of the top 10. Despite showing promising pace, his chances of scoring a strong result ended when he made contact with Roy Nissany, which forced him to pit for a front wing change. He pitted once again during a late-race safety car and could only manage finishing 14^th.

"A bad start put us on a back foot, but to be honest, the race was still alive when we put the options on. Then obviously my front wing got damaged. I was getting by Nissany and he just swerved into me, knocking my wing off. After that, the race was pretty much finished. The only positive to take is that we had great pace on options, but apart from that it was pretty much a race to forget,” Daruvala said after the race.

He’s currently ninth in the overall standings, but he won’t have to wait too long for another go at scoring more points since Round 2 takes place this weekend in Saudi Arabia (the same venue as the F1 race).

Also see:

Jehan Daruvala on his F1 ambitions: I must perform well this year