Haste won’t be waste!

Indian racer Jehan Daruvala will be keen to fire up his Formula 2 campaign starting this weekend with the F1 feeder series kicking off the second half of its season at Italyrsquos iconic Monza circuitDaruvala 22 who hails from Mumbairsquos Dadar Parsi Colony currently lies ninth in the overall standings 52 points off championship leader Oscar Piastri His season has not gone to plan so far and Daruvala needs to turn his fortunes around over the four rounds still left in the championshipldquoHopefully I find a bit of a turnaround of form in the next couple of roundsrdquo said Daruvala who drives for British team Carlin in an interview from his home in London where he is now based ldquoI definitely want to win a couple of races obviously have a few podiums That will be my main focusrdquoSecond season in F2This year marks Daruvalarsquos second season in F2 which sits one rung below F1 in the motorsport ladder Backed by Red Bull and part of the companyrsquos driver development programme he turned the page on a characterbuilding debut year in the championship with victory in the 2020 seasonrsquos final round in BahrainOnly the second Indian to stand on the top step of the podium in the series after former F1 racer Karun Chandhok who won when the category was run under the GP2 banner Daruvala went into the season hoping to battle for the title But while he made a strong start to his campaign with a secondplaced finish in the first race of the seasonopening round in Bahrain the results have since not lived up to his own expectationsCarlinrsquos Indian driver Jehan Daruvala on the Baku City Circuit Azerbaijan on June 6 2021 PicsGetty ImagesldquoI would say the weak point has been my qualifyingrdquo said Daruvala who finished third in the second race of the championshiprsquos Baku round ldquoIn fact itrsquos been a little bit worse than last year on average I think Irsquom just making small mistakes here and there that are turning out to be very crucialldquoObviously the grid is super super competitive So if you donrsquot nail the lap One or two tenthsmdashthatrsquos the difference between qualifying at the front and a couple of tenths and yoursquore not in the Top10rdquo Qualifying in the Top10 is crucial to gain a good starting spot under the F2 seriesrsquo new format which consists of two short sprint races and a longer feature race He qualified second at Monza on FridayA tall ask for JehanDaruvala whose 2020 Carlin team mate Yuki Tsunoda is racing in his rookie F1 campaign with AlphaTauri this year has qualified sixth in Bahrain 11th in Monaco ninth in Baku and 12th in Silverstone so far this season Daruvala is still mathematically in contention for the title with a maximum of 260 points up for grabs over the final four roundsBut while that may seem like a tall ask a consistent run of results can certainly propel him up the championship tables with even Robert Shwartzman who is 17 points off the overall lead in third having only scored three podium finishesMonza in the past has set the scene for a turnaround in form for Daruvala who fought for the title and finished third in the overall 2019 F3 championship The young Indian took the first of a streak of eight points finishes from 10 at the Italian Temple of Speed last year which marked a turning point in his season after a fallow run of racesF1 future in mindHis hopes of making it to F1 may well depend on mounting a similar fightbackSebastian Vettel Max Verstappen Daniel Ricciardo are all products of the Red Bull driver development programmeTo be picked as a member represents a major vote of confidence But on the other hand Dr Helmut Marko who runs the programme is known to be ruthless about dropping drivers who donrsquot deliver Red Bull has so far not told Daruvala whether they plan to retain himF1 hopefulrsquos racing in F2 also usually aim to spend no more than two seasons in the championship the first to learn the ropes the second to fight for the titleBut there have been drivers who have made it up to F1 after spending longer in the feeder categoryThe 2021 F1 silly season is also the first time in several years that an F2 driver hasnrsquot been in the frame for an F1 seat which could buy Daruvala time to do another season in the singleseater feeder seriesldquoIf I can find the budget Irsquoll probably do another year of F2rdquo he saidldquoSo it just depends on how the next two rounds really go and what my future holds will depend on that quite a lotrdquoJehan claims 1st win of the seasonIndian racer Jehan Daruvala claimed a breakthrough first win of the season in the second sprint race of the Formula 2 championshiprsquos Monza round on SaturdayDaruvala who moved up to eighth in the standings of the F1 feeder series had started the race second after finishing the opening sprint race in ninth as per the seriesrsquo reverse grid rulesDaruvala who hails from Mumbai took the lead right at the start from polesitter David Beckmann Once out in front he never looked back and won the race by 61 secondsThe win was Daruvalarsquos second in F2 and first this season Racing for British team Carlin he went into the weekend with his sights set on turning his season aroundThe Red Bullbacked youngster has a good chance of taking home another win in Monza on Sunday when he starts the main feature race from second again after an impressive display in qualifyingAlso Read Whole UK is open Ravi Shastrirsquos defence to book launch being blamed for incomplete England series