-First Indian to win a Formula 2 race
-Mick Schumacher steals F2 championship title
Jehan Daruvala makes India proud after scoring his first Formula 2 win at the Sakhir Grand Prix sprint race. Although the championship was crowned by Mick Schumacher, Daruvala was the first Indian ever to win an F2 race.
It was a nail-biting contest between the pole sitter – Daniel Ticktum, Daruvala and Mick Schumacher as the dramatic race began. Jehan Daruvala sprinted from the second position from the grid followed by Schumacher taking the third place. As the race progressed, Schumacher made a bold move from the outside of both the racers taking the lead position. A few corners later, Ticktum retained his command as Schumacher slipped to the second spot.
A calm but intense Daruvala made an exceptional move and eventually got past Schumacher taking the second place. As the laps passed by, Schumacher lost his pace and slumped behind the duo of Daruvala and Ticktum. With less than ten laps to go, Daruvala closed in and made a brilliant move putting the lead racer behind him. Thereafter, clinging to the position, Jehan started to open up a gap between him and the trailing cars and eventually taking the chequered flag to win his maiden Formula 2 race. The second rank was taken by his teammate YukiTsunoda, who was over 3.5 seconds behind Jehan.
An elated Jehan said, “Motorsport is pretty big in India. We obviously have a lot of people, so I have a big fanbase back home, and my goal at the end of the day is to do myself proud but also do my country proud and to prove to people from back home that even though we don’t have the same facilities and stuff that guys have in Europe, as long as you can work hard you can fight right at the sharp end of the grid.”