F2: Jehan Daruvala Leaves Hungary Empty-Handed

India's upcoming racing star, Jehan Daruvala had a great start to his Formula 2 season this year. Daruvala scored 5 podiums in the first 6 rounds alone, and was sitting P3 in the championship, a decent amount of points clear from P4 and within the earshot of the lead. However, ever since his engine failure in the Feature race in Spain, Daruvala's progress has hit a speed-breaker.

Jehan Daruvala scored 5 podiums in the first 6 rounds in the 2022 Formula 2 championship.

In the 12 races that followed, Daruvala managed to score only 3 podium finishes, all of which coming in the reverse-grid sprint races. This has largely been an outcome of the PREMA team's drop in pace. Daruvala also lost a potential race win in Austria, as he was handed a 20-second post-race time penalty, as the PREMA team tried to dry his grid spot before the start of the race, an action not allowed under FIA's sporting regulations.

Jehan Daruvala lost a potential Feature Race win in Austria due to a penalty inflicted for his team's actions.

To add to the trouble, the Hungarian GP weekend prove to be even worse for Daruvala, as both of the PREMA team's drivers failed to score points. Daruvala could only manage to qualify P12, missing out on the reverse-grid starting position advantage in the Sprint race, and couldn't get into the points giving positions in either of the two races. "Hungary was a weekend to forget. We lacked pace all through-out and were simply never in the fight. It's been a really tough month overall and it's clear we have a lot of work to do over the summer break", Jehan said.

Jehan Daruvala is currently fifth in the driver's championship standings in Formula 2.

Having walked away with no points in Hungary, Daruvala has now dropped to P5 in the championship. Current championship leader Felipe Drugovich also had a poor weekend in Hungary, allowing second-placed Theo Pourchaire - who won the Feature Race - to significantly close the gap in the championship. While the top two drivers are now 40 & 61 points clear of the rest of the field, only 25 points separate P3 & P5. Should the PREMA team be able to find a decent amount of pace over the summer break, Jehan Daruvala can make a bid for a top-3 spot in the 2022 Formula 2 championship, which will be essential for the Red Bull junior's hopes of getting a Formula 1 seat for 2023. However, with only 9 points separating P5 and P10, the tide can easily turn the other way too, and Daruvala will have to make sure he scores well in the upcoming rounds to avoid dropping out of the top-10.

2022 Formula 2 Driver's Championship standings after Round 10 - Hungary: