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Jehan Daruvala of Sahara Force India Academy created history by becoming the first Indian to win in the FIA F3 European Championship here on Sunday.
Jehan’s victory in race 3 comes 18 years after Naren Karthikeyan won in the British F3 Championship.
The 2.3-km Norisring is an extremely fast and flowing layout for a street circuit, with mistakes being punished by concrete walls instead of soft tyre barriers.
The Formula 3 rookie showed immense skill to clinch the top spot with two full-course yellow flag periods and made no mistakes despite coming under sustained pressure from championship leader Maximilian Gunther.
“It feels brilliant to get my first F3 win. I have been quick all weekend & it finally came together this race. I knew that the start was crucial, so I focused a lot on that. Once I had Max at the start, I just had to ensure that I made no mistakes. The pressure was immense through the race, but I was enjoying myself,” said Jehan.
The 2001 Formula 1 title runner-up David Coulthard, who has also won in F3 on several occasions, presented the winner’s trophy to Jehan.
Jehan had qualified on the front row for the final race of the weekend, behind pole-sitter Gunther.
As the lights went out, the 18-year old got off the line in a scintillating fashion, getting side-by-side with his German rival before even reaching the braking zone into turn one. He comfortably defended the inside while others scrabbled behind him and never looked back, completing a perfect lights to emerge winner 39 laps later.
Jehan had a one second advantage when the first full-course yellow was called on lap six, after a collision between Mick Schumacher and Pedro Piquet.
At the restart, Gunther got slightly close several times during the race length, but Daruvala kept up his relentless pace and never allowed his German rival an opportunity to make a move. A strong haul of points thanks to his sixth and fourth places finishes in the first two races meant that Jehan is now fifth in the overall standings and second in the rookie standings.
Jehan’s victory in race 3 comes 18 years after Naren Karthikeyan won in the British F3 Championship.
The 2.3-km Norisring is an extremely fast and flowing layout for a street circuit, with mistakes being punished by concrete walls instead of soft tyre barriers.
The Formula 3 rookie showed immense skill to clinch the top spot with two full-course yellow flag periods and made no mistakes despite coming under sustained pressure from championship leader Maximilian Gunther.
“It feels brilliant to get my first F3 win. I have been quick all weekend & it finally came together this race. I knew that the start was crucial, so I focused a lot on that. Once I had Max at the start, I just had to ensure that I made no mistakes. The pressure was immense through the race, but I was enjoying myself,” said Jehan.
The 2001 Formula 1 title runner-up David Coulthard, who has also won in F3 on several occasions, presented the winner’s trophy to Jehan.
Jehan had qualified on the front row for the final race of the weekend, behind pole-sitter Gunther.
As the lights went out, the 18-year old got off the line in a scintillating fashion, getting side-by-side with his German rival before even reaching the braking zone into turn one. He comfortably defended the inside while others scrabbled behind him and never looked back, completing a perfect lights to emerge winner 39 laps later.
Jehan had a one second advantage when the first full-course yellow was called on lap six, after a collision between Mick Schumacher and Pedro Piquet.
At the restart, Gunther got slightly close several times during the race length, but Daruvala kept up his relentless pace and never allowed his German rival an opportunity to make a move. A strong haul of points thanks to his sixth and fourth places finishes in the first two races meant that Jehan is now fifth in the overall standings and second in the rookie standings.
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(Published 02 July 2017, 18:30 IST)
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