Jehan follows Vettel’s footsteps, gets wings under Red Bull
CHENNAI: Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo, Daniil Kvyat, Alexander Albon...and now Jehan Daruvala. The former Force India Academy driver has found another Formula One team to take him under their wings — he will now be part of Red Bull’s junior team. After fighting for the FIA Formula 3 championship last season before settling for third, Jehan will spend the next season racing in the Formula 2 series with Carlin Motorsports. Being part of the Red Bull junior program means there’s every chance that a great season might lead to something with either the Red Bull or Toro Rosso F1 teams.
That’s the path that the likes of Vettel and Verstappen took. But Jehan doesn’t have to look that far for inspiration — Lando Norris, who drove for the same Carlin Motorsports team in 2018, found himself in F1 with McLaren a year later.
“With me being in the F3 Championship fight all of last year and the races being on F1 weekends, the discussions with Red Bull began during the latter half of last year,” Jehan told this newspaper.With the season fast approaching and seats at various series getting filled, time was running out for Jehan to finalise a drive. In fact, before his announcement, there were worries that Jehan might miss out on a drive altogether. There were only three seats left on the F2 grid and Prema Racing, the F3 team that Jehan had raced for last year, had already announced his replacement. Missing out on a drive after the season he had last year would have been criminal.
2019 was a landmark year for Jehan. He set the fastest lap and won a race in the very first F3 weekend in Spain. He had notched up three podium finishes in his first four races and was in contention for the title until the last weekend of the season in Sochi. While coming third after being in the frame for first would no doubt have been a disappointment, Jehan maintains that he exceeded the targets that he set for himself. “At the beginning of 2019, although determined to win the F3 championship, I was realistically aiming for a top-5 finish because of the pedigree of drivers on the grid,” he says. “The year was fantastic with lots learnt and I was the only other driver left with a theoretical chance of winning the championship in Sochi (apart from eventual winner Robert Shwartzman).”
While the likes of Arjun Maini have raced in F2 before, Jehan’s Red Bull deal arguably makes him the closest any Indian has been to driving in F1 since Narain Karthikeyan in 2012. But the 21-year-old is not looking too far ahead and is focussed on the task at hand. “Yes, my ultimate target is to get to Formula One which is the pinnacle of motorsport,” Jehan said. “But for the moment I would like to focus on this year and try and achieve good results in the series that I will be doing to enable me to get closer to my target.
“After an excellent year for me in F3, I hope to carry my form into my first year in F2 with the support of the Red Bull Junior Team and Carlin. There are many experienced F2 drivers and a number of strong rookies making it an exciting grid this year — I’m looking forward to the challenge!”
- Started karting with Rayo Racing in 2009.
- Identified through the Force India’s One in a Billion talent hunt in 2011.
- Won the British Superone KF3 Championship in 2013, the first Indian to do so.
- Finished second runner-up at the CIK FIA World Karting Championship in 2014, becoming the first Indian on the podium of a FIA World Championship event.
- Became the first Indian to win an official Grand Prix when he won the New Zealand GP in 2017.
- Finished third in FIA Formula 3 series after going into the last weekend with a chance of winning the title.