Hearing the national anthem brought a lot of pride: Jehan Daruvala

Jehan Daruvala’s existence in the psyche of an Indian motorsport enthusiast has always been a footnote to the narrative of Arjun Maini’s success. Not anymore.

With the elder Maini dramatically fading from collective conscience over the last couple of years, India revisited the dark ages of single-seater racing but for the occasional news on Daruvala’s exploits in Formula 3 and more recently Formula 2.

On Sunday, Daruvala established himself as the top dog from an ailing talent pool in the race to Formula One from India. Not only was winning the Sakhir Grand Prix in Bahrain his first in his debut season, but it was also the first-ever by an Indian in F2 - a feat which even Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok - the only two Indian participants in F1 - couldn’t achieve. More impressively, the 22-year-old beat Mick Schumacher en route to his historic win.

DH caught up with Daruvala to understand what this win means to his career, what the future holds, and more. Excerpts:

Does beating Mick to win the race assume importance since he has a foot in F1 now?

I have never really doubted my skills. I have always believed that I can compete at the sharp end. I have raced these guys since I was in karting and we have always been fighting together, all the way up to F2. I am happy for guys who have progressed to F1, I know I can be as good as them. I have no doubt in my mind that if I work hard in the off-season, I will be able to compete for the (F2) title next year.

A not-so-great year but a fine finish…

This win means a lot to me. It has been a long road to where I have come. Hearing the national anthem on the podium brought a lot of pride to me and to a lot of people back home. At the end of the day, it’s about inspiring young children to believe that wherever you’re from, whether you’re from India - where you don’t have the best facilities for racing as compared to what the people in Europe have - if you work hard, you can always compete with the best drivers in the world.

What were some of the issues you faced this season?

Obviously, I can’t blame engine issues entirely. I had bad starts for the first half of the season. I had been working really hard with the team to basically get that going. For the last eight races or so, apart from Mick, I probably have the second-best starts on the grid in average. When you work hard, things do fall into place. Over the last few races, the pieces started to come together.

Jump from F3 to F2…

It’s a steep learning curve because of how differently the car is set up. The tyres grip more and the carbon brakes are temperature sensitive so you need to know how to keep them activated. It’s easy in a lap but over a race distance, it’s hard on the body. Also, the car is a bit heavier and not as nimble so that takes some getting used to. It’s a really good stepping stone to enter F1.

Is your progression in line with the plans you put in place?

I think things are going according to plan for me except I had a year more in F3 than I wanted. Because the second year with Carlin wasn’t how we planned (we struggled for pace the whole year), I had to stay back. Apart from that, I pretty much have a two-year plan in every category to fight for the championship in the second year and then move on.