An achievement of this caliber can never be described in words, but that’s what we have to do. Jehan Daruvala, the 18 year-old Indian has pulled off one of the biggest wins in Indian Formula One history by winning arguably the toughest competition in F1, the FIA F3 European Championship.
The Sahara Force India Academy racer is only the second Indian in the history to have won this prestigious junior level tournament, which has produced some of absolute legends of F1 like the legendary Ayrton Senna, Miachael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastial Vettel. From India, Narain Karthikeyan was the first person to have won this tournament, almost 18 years prior to the present date.
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. This makes the race all the more tougher, but the 18 year old showed great mettle and character and announced his arrival on the big stage in style.
He managed to win the race with 2 full course yellow flags without committing any mistake. David Coulthard, the F1 superstar who previously won this Race 3 in 2001, presented the trophy to the Indian youngster. Jehan had qualified on the front row for the final race of the weekend, behind pole-sitter and 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 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.
“I must thank the team for a fantastic car all weekend & everyone else around me who have been instrumental in my success,” said an ecstatic Jehan.
This indeed is a remarkable achievement from Jehan is India is a country which is predominantly focusing on cricket these days. Though sports like Football and Tennis are adored, its disappointing that no one from our country plays these games in the elite levels. The Youth team wishes Jehan and his entire team all the very best for the next FIA Formula 3 European Championship, which is scheduled on July 29-30 in Belgium.
