Jehan Daruvala

Some Lesser Known Facts About Jehan Daruvala

• Jehan Daruvala is an Indian motorsports racing driver, who is a reserve driver of the Formula E team for Mahindra Racing. He is a Formula 2 driver for MP Motorsports.

• He became interested in car racing at a very young age.

  

• When he was 9 years old, he began karting with his father as a recreational activity and later, realised that he wanted to be a car racer.

  

• At the age of 13, he began his driving journey with karting in 2011. He had participated in many karting competitions.

• Rayomand Banajee, Go-karting champion and owner of Rayo Racing, saw Jehan while karting and realised Jehan’s potential and talent for racing. Later, Rayomand began to coach him for a strong foundation in racing.

• In 2011, he participated in the ‘One in a Billion’ hunt organised by the Force India F1 team and became an apprentice of the team after he was selected in the top three of the hunt.

• In 2013, he won the title of champion at the Super 1 National Championship. Later, he secured vice-champion positions at multiple racing competitions held across Asia and Europe.

  

• In 2015, he lifted up to single-seaters in the Formula Renault 2.0 NEC and Formula Renault 2.0 Alps championships with Fortec Motorsport. After he took three podiums and scored consistent points, he was ranked fifth in the Northern European Cup. In the same year, he participated as a guest driver in the Eurocup and Alps series.

  

• In 2016, he achieved an opening pole position at Monza Circuit in Italy and took the podium in the second race.

• In 2016, he participated in Toyota Racing Series, where he won three times and took three podiums, which made him vice-champion to Lando Norris, who is a Belgian-British racing driver. He finished 2nd in the Toyota Racing Series.

  

• In the 2017 season of the Toyota Racing Series, he took the most pole positions and won two times, including one in the New Zealand Grand Prix.

• In 2016, he signed to race with the Carlin Motorsport team.

• In 2017, he was ranked 6th in the European Formula 3 Championship. In the same year, he achieved the 10th position Macau Grand Prix.

  

• In 2017, he became the first Indian to win New Zealand International Grand Prix, an annual motor racing event that takes place held in New Zealand. He won the race with a Tatuus FT-50 Toyota.

• In the 2018 season of the European Formula 3 Championship, he finished third in the third race at Pau Grand Prix’s opening weekend.

• In 2018, he took the pole position and fastest lap in the first race of the Spa-Francorchamps round, which turned out to be his only win of the year.

• He secured 12th position in the 2018 Macau Grand Prix.

  

• In 2018, he signed with the MP Motorsport team during the Yas Marina GP3 finale. He secured the 26th position in the race.

  

• In 2019, he signed with Prema Powerteam for racing in the Formula 3 Championship’s inaugural season. He participated in 16 races; however, he won only two. He stood 3rd in the championship.

  

• In February 2020, he signed again with the Carlin Motorsport team before participating in the 2020 FIA Formula 2 Championship. He was given the title of Red Bull Junior during the championship. He stood 12th in the championship after winning only one race.

  

• In 2021, he won three races at the F3 Asian Championship held in Abu Dhabi from the team Mumbai Falcons India Racing Ltd. He stood 3rd in the championship because of his overall performance and scoring 192 points in the championship.

  

• In 2021, he again participated in FIA Formula 2 Championship and was ranked 7th after winning 2 races out of 23.

  

• In January 2022, he signed again with the Prema Racing team before participating in the FIA Formula 2 Championship. He did not win any race in the championship; however, he scored 3rd rank because of the podiums he took and the points he gained.

  

• After the 2022 Canadian Grand Prix, he was given an opportunity to take the Formula 1 car McLaren MCL35M for a test drive at the Silverstone Circuit in England. In July 2022, he took the car for the second test drive at the Algarve International Circuit in Portugal. In September 2022, he took the car for the third test drive and drove the car at the Circuit Paul Ricard in France.

• In an interview, when he was asked about how he felt when he won a chance for taking the 2021 Formula 1 winner car, Mclaren MCL35 for a test drive, he said,
  

  I have never driven a Formula 1 car before. This test is for me to learn about the car and its characteristics and find its limits. My aim is to win the F2 Championships and hopefully, I do enough and my name is out there (to be noticed).”

• In November 2022, it was announced that he would participate as a test and reserve driver for Mahindra Racing in Formula E season 2022-2023.

• In 2023, he switched back to the MP Motorsport team in the fourth season of the FIA Formula 2 Championship. He finished 3rd in FIA Formula 2 Championship Saudi Arabia round. He finished 17th position in FIA Formula 2 round in Melbourne.

  

• In April 2023, he debuted with the Berlin rookie test in Formula E machinery and stood in the 7th position.

• He considers Fernando Alonso, a Spanish racing driver, as his role model.

• One of his guilty pleasures is eating a Shake Shack burger in London.

• According to him, one actor who could portray Jehan in his biopic would be Sidharth Malhotra.

• After Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok, he wants to be the first Indian to race in Formula 1.