Indian driver Jehan Daruvala finished second in the Austrian Feature Race, only to be penalised 20-seconds for a pre-race infraction at Round 8 of the 2022 FIA Formula 2 Championship.
Starting from eleventh on the grid, the 23-year-old’s PREMA Racing team had attempted to dry his grid position ahead of the damp start to the race, which saw all available tyres in use when the lights went out.
The post-race penalty cost Daruvala victory as Richard Verschoor, who won for Trident, was disqualified for not providing a large enough fuel sample. Daruvala instead plummeted out of the points to be classified 12th.
“It was a good race in terms of results, although a grid infraction kept us away from the podium,” the Red Bull Junior said.
Explaining his race, Daruvala said: “The team definitely made the right call with the strategy. I managed pretty well in the beginning and in the out lap with the Primes.
“I struggled for pace a bit as we had a lot of degradation with the front tyres,” the Indian added.
As a result of the penalty, Daruvala left Spielberg with no points added to his 80 so far this season, eventual Feature Race Winner Logan Sargeant moving ahead of the PREMA driver.
Now 74-points behind championship leader Felipe Drugovich, Daruvala’s championship hopes are now extremely slim, if not gone completely.
Image: RedBull Content Pool
