2022 FIA F2 Round 8 Austria Feature Race: Jehan Daruvala Demoted Down To 11th Position

In a feature race as chaotic as this, it looked like big risks paid huge rewards for Jehan Daruvala after inheriting the feature race win due to a disqualification and time penalties up front. But the Prema driver himself fell victim to a bizarre post-race time penalty, dropping him down to 11th, taking away a much needed first win of the season. Teammate Dennis Hauger through all the penalty chaos managed a fourth place finish.

With a drying damp track at the start, Jehan Daruvala was one of the few drivers who gambled on slick tyres at the start in order to avoid an extra pitstop and gain track position. While in the opening couple of laps it didn’t seem to have worked, by Lap 7/40, the slick tyre runners came alive, scything through the drivers on wet tyres. 

In no time, Daruvala was found running in a comfortable second place, and retained that position after the mandatory pitstop. While race-leader Richard Verschoor was dominating the race, Daruvala was falling into the clutches of Roberto Merhi in the closing stages of the feature race and made the pass stick on the penultimate lap. 

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Daruvala crossed the line in third place, but Mehri’s 5-second time penalty for track limit violations promoted him to second. That became the win when Verschoor was disqualified for not having enough fuel to pass scrutineering requirements. But a crucial error by the team in attempting to dry the track surface at his grid slot before the race cost Daruvala dear, as a 20-second post-race time penalty dropped him down to 11th place.

 

Overall, what was looking like a much needed turn of fortune for Jehan Daruvala, turned into a nightmare. While Daruvala continues to stay fourth in the overall standings, the feature race result could’ve helped the Indian driver make up some ground on the top three.

Formula 2 will take a week’s break before it returns to racing action at the Paul Ricard Circuit in France for the ninth round of the season. It’s scheduled to run between July 22-24.