Jehan Daruvala overcomes wrist injury to put in a fighting drive in Abu Dhabi season finale

The 24-year-old injured his wrist in a heavy crash in Saturday’s Sprint

The Red Bull-backed racer finished Sunday’s feature race only a few seconds outside the points

by Prashant Kapadia/NHN

YAS MARINA, Abu Dhabi, Nov, 2022: India’s Jehan Daruvala came within seconds of bringing the curtain down on his Formula 2 campaign with a points-scoring comeback in Sunday’s feature race at the season-ending round in Abu Dhabi, despite sustaining a wrist injury in a crash in Saturday’s Sprint.

The 24-year-old shunted heavily into the barriers after contact with Enzo Fittipaldi on the opening lap of the shorter Saturday race. The Prema racer was taken to the medical center but was cleared to race on Sunday.

Jehan had, however, suffered a tendon injury in the crash and lined up for the feature race with his wrist strapped up to reduce the pain.

Formula 2 cars are not equipped with power steering, which puts a lot of demands on a driver’s arms and wrists.

Still, despite the pain, Jehan battled through the pack, running as high as third after a long opening stint.

He had pulled out enough of a gap to come out of the pits comfortably within the top ten but a slow stop that cost him as many as five seconds cost him a points finish.

He finished 13th just over two seconds outside the points.

Jehan said, “We were hoping for more after our win and double podium in Monza but unfortunately this wasn’t our weekend. Motor racing is full of ups and downs and while this season hasn’t gone as we wanted, there are still highs that we can celebrate. I would like to thank Prema, Red Bull, my family and all my sponsors for their hard work and support this year. I’m looking forward to having a bit of a break and recharging my batteries over the winter.”    

About Jehan Daruvala: Jehan Daruvala is a racing driver from Mumbai, India. He began karting at the age of 10 in 2009. Two years later, he was picked as one of the three winners of Force India’s ‘One From a Billion’ talent hunt. In 2013, he became the first Asian to win the British KF3 karting championship. A proven winner, Jehan has won in every category he has competed in. He is currently racing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, which is a feeder series to Formula 1 and takes place on the same weekends.