Daruvala finishes ninth

India’s Jehan Daruvala moved to third in the FIA Formula 2 championship after a strong weekend in Imola including a second-place finish on Saturday. In Saturday’s Sprint Race, the 23-year-old rocketed off the line from third to slot into second behind Marcus Armstrong, who took the lead after Sprint race pole-sitter Logan Sargeant made a tardy getaway and dropped to fifth. Jehan kept the position through an early safety car and then a subsequent Virtual Safety Car period before unleashing his pace. He cranked up the pressure on Armstrong, harrying him for the lead as he closed to within a second of the Kiwi racer. This was Jehan’s third podium from as many rounds this season and 10th overall in Formula 2. He followed up his Saturday podium with a points-paying finish in Sunday’s Formula 2 Feature race, with the Red Bull-backed racer showing blistering pace to bounce back from an ill-timed safety car. The 23-year-old had started from eighth on the harder prime tyre which would have put him in the fight for the win in the latter stages of the race on the faster and softer tyres. But an early safety car, which allowed rivals starting on the more fragile option tyres to make a free pitstop went against Jehan, who had to make his own mandatory stop under full racing conditions and as a result, finished ninth. He showed a good pace to secure the fastest lap and pocked an extra point.“After the fighting for the win yesterday, I was obviously hoping for more. It’s a real shame the safety car came out when it did because we clearly had the pace to win,” said Jehan on Sunday.