MUMBAI: Carlin’s Jehan Daruvala capped off his rookie campaign in Formula 2 with a brilliant first win in the Sakhir Sprint Race, as Mick Schumacher sealed his promotion into Formula 1 with HAAS as F2 champion, despite a tricky race where he finished down in 18th.
Daruvala came out on top of a race-long battle with Dan Ticktum, to win by 2.9s, while the DAMS’ driver ended up in third after a late overtake from Feature Race winner Yuki Tsunoda, who secured a Carlin one-two.
For a moment, it looked as if the title was slipping out of Schumacher’s fingers, after an early lock-up damaged his tyres and forced him into an unwanted pitstop. The German ended up in 18th, but Callum Ilott was unable to secure enough points to snatch the crown, dropping down from third and ending his F2 career with a 10th place finish.
An elated Jehan said: “It feels really good to win the last race of the season and finish on a high. It was a great battle out there with Dan (Ticktum), which got close at times, but we respected each other and raced well. The car was really good and I couldn’t have asked for a better finish.”
