Jehan Daruvala faces ‘make-or-break year’ in quest to reach F1

The 23-year-old Indian needs to be fighting for the 2022 championship in Formula 2, the category just below the pinnacle of single-seater racing, to have a shot at realising a long-cherished dream

When Narain Karthikeyan made his Formula One debut with Jordan in 2005, there was hope it would open the doors for several other Indian drivers. Since then, however, just one has made it to the pinnacle of single-seater racing: Karun Chandhok (11 starts between 2010 and 2011).

And since 2012, when Narain, driving for back-of-the-grid outfit HRT, made the last of his 46 starts, no Indian has come close to securing an F1 seat. This was despite the presence of an Indian-owned team, Force India, from 2008 to 2018.

But after a decade, there is a small glimmer of hope: it will depend, however, on whether things go well for Jehan Daruvala in the FIA Formula 2 championship this year. The 23-year-old, a part of the Red Bull Racing F1 team’s junior driver programme since 2020, is the Indian closest to the finishing point on the road to F1. He has an extensive CV in the junior categories leading up to the top level and this will be his third year in the final category before F1.