PREMA Racing, Daruvala deliver podium finish in Sprint Race
PREMA Racing and Indian driver Jehan Daruvala posted second place in today's FIA Formula 2 Championship Sprint Race at Circuit Paul Ricard.
Daruvala started from P1 on the reverse top-10 grid from qualifying and kept the lead. However, a safety car recompacted the field on lap 9, and while he had a clean restart, Daruvala eventually had to settle for second on lap 16. Today's result at the French Grand Prix venue handed the Red Bull Junior driver his sixth podium finish of the year.
Fellow Red Bull Junior driver Dennis Hauger eventually finished in P13 after having to start from row 9 due to a mechanical issue in qualifying. The Norwegian was always going to face a tough race, but tried to maximise the situation and eventually made up a few positions.
#1 - Dennis Hauger
"I had a decent start but lost out in turn 4 just been caught in a melee that cost me a bit. Throughout the race, I didn't really have the pace and struggled to get close to the cars in front. It was a tough one for sure, and we definitely want to improve going forward. We made up some positions, but the pace wasn't what we wanted. We have to look into it for tomorrow."
#2 - Jehan Daruvala
"The race was okay, started on pole, and had a good start, so I got to the lead. I maintained the gap pretty well, but I was pushing a lot, it was difficult, and Liam was catching me a lot. I tried to make it hard for him, but he had a little bit more pace than I had today. He made a very aggressive move, and I tried to stay with him in DRS, but it was just difficult. In the end, I'm happy to be second even though I'm disappointed about not being able to win. A lot of second places now without a win. I'm sure it's just a matter of time before we're on the top step and most importantly, on Sunday. That's the goal for tomorrow and the coming events."