It was a mixed weekend for India's Jehan Daruvala who secured a podium and a DNF over the two races in Round 4 of the 2019 FIA Formula 3 championship. The 21-year-old finished the feature race on Saturday in second place, pushing him to the top of the points table in the driver standings, but the second race of the weekend on Sunday saw the driver crash on the penultimate lap. The incident denied the Prema Racing driver crucial points, as teammate Robert Shwartzman now leads the championship standings with a margin of 12 points.
Starting Race 1 at P3, Jehan tried to pass leader Juri Vips several times but had to settle for P2
Race 1 of the Formula 3 Round 4 saw Jehan qualify third at Silverstone. The driver had a good start to the race and was quick to move up to P2 passing teammate driver Marcus Armstrong. Hitech GP driver Juri Vips was in the lead meanwhile with a lead of over a second and a half. Daruvala though was faster between the two and managed to reduce the gap by Lap 3. However, Vips managed to fend off the attacks from the Prema Racing driver on the following laps and the Indian did have an opportunity to pass the race leader on Lap 10. But he ran wide and was almost on the brink of being pushed down to P3 by Armstrong. Nevertheless, Daruvala recovered to retain the second place and crossed the finish line 0.8s behind Vips, after his tyres were at the end of their life by the final laps.
The second place finish and the additional two points for the fastest lap promoted Daruvala to the championship lead with 102 points. Shwartzman, who finished fifth in the race was now placed second in the driver standings by a margin of two points. However, the Indian racer's moment was shortlived due to a disappointing second race.
Jehan Daruvala & Pedro Piquet made contact on the final lap which ended the race for both drivers
Race 2 of Round 4 saw Daruvala start at P7 due to a reverse grid order and the driver had to make his way to the top spots. Hitech GP driver Leonardo Pulcini was quick to move up to P3 on the opening lap and passed Pedro Piquet of Trident Racing and pole-sitter Liam Lawson of MP Motorsport to take the lead. In the meantime, it was a three-way battle between Prema drivers Shwartzman, Daruvala and Armstrong for P5. Shwartzman was the first to move up to P4, and was soon followed by Daruvala. The driver then moved up to P2 as he passed Piquet in a bid to attack the race leader, while Daruvala was attacking the Trident racer to grab the final spot on the podium. However, Jehan and Pedro made contact at the start of the final lap that spent the latter into a spin, while the Prema Racing driver damaged his front wing.
The incident effectively ended the race for both drivers ruining the chance of picking up crucial points. Shwartzman eventually finished second in the race and amassing additional points for the fastest lap. The total has put the Prema driver in the championship lead.
With a strong form over the past four rounds, Jehan has all the makings of being the title winner this year as the championship reaches its halfway mark. Four rounds are now left in the series with the next one scheduled to take place at the Hungoring in Budapest, Hungary between August 2-4, 2019.
