F2: Jehan Daruvala continues strong form with podium at Sochi

Jehan Daruvala’s fourth podium this year in Formula 2 comes on the back of his dominant victory in Monza.

Jehan Daruvala bagged his fourth podium this year in Formula 2 at the Russian Grand Prix weekend. Jehan drove a strong race to finish in P3 in the feature race at the 5.848km-long Sochi Autodrom. Earlier in qualifying, the Indian racer was on the provisional pole towards the end of the session. Just before the end of the session, he was pipped by the championship leader, Oscar Piastri. Jehan stayed in P2, two-tenths of a second behind Piastri, who clocked 1:47.653. Frenchman Theo Pourchaire was in P3, a further 2 tenths behind Jehan.

Incessant rain before the race meant damp sections. Unfortunately, the inside of the track was damp, meaning all those starting on the inside made a poor start. Jehan, first in line on the damp inside, fell down to fourth. Once all racers were done with their pit stops, Jehan remained in P4, 4.5 seconds behind Swiss racer Ralph Boschung. Jehan put in a series of quick laps to close the gap to Boschung and caught him with around 10 laps to go. Jehan piled the pressure on the Swiss driver, forcing him into an error. Jehan moved up into P3 but was immediately under pressure from the home favorite, Robert Shwartzman. The Russian was within 1 second of the Indian, allowing him to use his DRS, but Jehan kept his cool and managed to edge away.