Jehan Daruvala was at his dominant best during the French GP and picked up his third consecutive podium finish in Formula 3. The Prema Racing driver started eighth on the grid with the second race following a reverse order, and saw the 21-year-old work his way up to second and finally settle for third. The FIA Formula 3 Championship runs as a support race to F1 and was conducted at the Paul Ricard circuit.
Jehan bagged his first win of the season at Barcelona earlier this year and followed it up with a second win on Saturday. This meant he would start eighth given the reverse order which makes it challenging for the faster drivers to pass traffic. The Mumbai-based racer did not have the perfect start though and dropped to 10th behind drivers Logan Sargeant and Juri Vips. He had to battle it out with them to reclaim P8 and then moved up the order showing better pace than most of his rivals.
Jehan dropped to 10th on the opening lap and climbed back up to second
Meanwhile, Jehan's Prema Racing teammate Robert Schwartzman jumped into the lead with Brazilian driver Pedro Piquet taking second. Jehan steadily climbed further crossing Red Bull Racing junior Yuki Tsunoda of Japan to take fourth and then attacked Piquet for P2. However, having fought in the early stages did show the stress on the tyres which began to degrade with Jehan losing pace. This allowed Piquet to retake the lead using DRS to his advantage pushing the Indian to P3, which be comfortably held on to till the end of the race.
Speaking on this hat-trick of podiums, Jehan said, "It's been a good weekend for the team and for me as well. This race was fun actually. At the start, I was a bit surprised by how quick the lights went out and then I was playing it a bit too safe for the first couple of laps. We knew we had the pace and the race was long, but maybe I took a bit too much time. When I got up to P6 the leading group of five cars was quite a long way ahead, and maybe my mistake at that stage was to push too hard to catch them instead of just chipping away. I caught them and passed all of them except Robert. My main goal was to win the race and I was pushing a lot, but Robert was doing the same and I started to struggle with the tires. Pedro did well, he stayed with me using the DRS, and when I started to struggle he passed me for second place. Two podiums in one weekend are good, now we have to see where we can do better. For me, just the start and the first lap, while the car has been good all weekend. Hopefully, we will have the same result next weekend."
A strong finish in three out of four races of the season so far has ensured that Jehan sits second in the championship standings with 58 points, not too far from the top contender. The driver will be looking to better his performance and bag a win once again with the Austrian Grand Prix next at the Red Bull Ring circuit in Spielberg In the coming weekend.
