Indian racer Jehan Daruvala made it to the podium for the fourth time this season finishing third in the Russian Grand Prix feature race. The Carlin driver was on a provisional pole towards the end of the session but was pipped by championship leader Oscar Piastri before the end of the season. Jehan stayed second, two-tenths of a second behind Piastri who clocked 1:47.653. Frenchman Theo Pourchaire was third, a further two-tenths behind Jehan.
A rain-soaked weekend at Sochi meant the track was damp in parts. The inside of the track was damp too at the start, which served as a disadvantage for those starting here. Jehan had this disadvantage and dropped to P4 as the lights turned green. Once all racers were done with their pit stops, Jehan remained fourth, 4.5 seconds behind Swiss racer Ralph Boschung.
A damp track was a challenge in the early stages but Jehan soldiered through to make it to P3
Nevertheless, Jehan put in a series of quick laps to close the gap to Boschung and caught him with around 10 laps to go. He found the opportunity soon after to move up to third but was immediately under pressure from Robert Shwartzman. The Russian driver was closing in on the Carlin driver and was within one second of the Indian allowing him to use his DRS.
But Jehan edged away staying calm in the highly volatile situation. A couple of fast laps later, the driver managed to hold on to the position finishing behind race leader Piastri followed by Pourchaire in second place.
Speaking about his performance, Jehan said, "It was good to be back on the podium today. After qualifying second I was confident that we had the pace to fight up front. The inside line was a bit damp and I fell to fourth at the start but was happy to fight back and get a podium. I am looking forward to coming back home as there is a long break till our next race in Jeddah."
The next round F2 round will be held in Jeddah as part of the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend in early December.
