The 23-year-old finished in second place, just two seconds behind winner Richard Verschoor.
India’s Jehan Daruvala opened his bid for the Formula 2 title with a second-place finish in the Sprint race of the championship’s first round in Bahrain. The 23-year-old from Mumbai, who races for Prema Racing and is a member of the Red Bull Junior Team, had started fourth after qualifying seventh under the championship’s reverse grid rules. Daruvala’s season-opening podium was founded on a good start. He was up to third straight away and, after fending off fellow Red Bull junior Liam Lawson in the Carlin, he set about in pursuit of second-placed Ralph Boschung. The safety car was deployed on Lap 3 to clear away the stranded Hitech of Marcus Armstrong. It bunched up the field but Daruvala, who took his first F2 win in Bahrain in 2020, held position, once again prevailing in a wheel-to-wheel battle with Lawson.
