Barcelona: India’s racing sensation Jehan Daruvala created history during the Spanish F1 Grand Prix, scoring a dramatic victory in the inaugural round of the all-new FIA Formula 3 Championship, here on Sunday, May 12.
The 20-year-old, the only Indian on the grid, started from the second position but streaked into the lead in the run-down to the first corner. But an accident at the back involving four cars saw the safety car being deployed in the lap one itself, affecting his concentration.
At the restart, pole-starter Niko Kari of Finland made a charge, forcing Jehan to play hard to defend his lead. Over the next two laps, Jehan quickly opened up a gap of over 1.5 seconds, preventing Kari from deploying the DRS (drag reduction system).
The safety car was deployed a second time negating the two-second advantage that Jehan had built up. But this time, Jehan was better prepared for the restart and was able to open up a gap of over 1.5 seconds in less than two laps.
He, thereafter, controlled the race well and also bagged the fastest lap of the race. Later, Jehan cruised to take the chequered flag 2.121 seconds ahead of Estonian racer Juri Vips who by then had moved up to second.
The Indian national anthem was played probably for the first time at an F1 Grand Prix in front of a full crowd.
Jehan began his career in karting at the age of 10. Since then he has won the Indian National Karting Championship, the Malaysian Junior Yamaha Karting Championship, the FIA CIK Asia Pacific KF3 Championship and the British Superone National Karting Championship.
