After a mediocre opening round, Daruvala assumed his top form, as he secured two race wins in Round 2 and another one in Round 3. After Round 3, Daruvala is now second overall in the driver's classification with 146 points, and so is Mumbai Falcons in the overall team classification.
The 2021 F3 Asian Championship began on 29th January, and as we reported earlier, homegrown racing team Mumbai Falcons is the first all-Indian outfit to take part in this prestigious global event, with ace racing drivers Jehan Daruvala and Kush Maini leading the attack.
Just to give the readers a brief overview of how the championship works, it's been split into five rounds, with three races (of 30 minutes each) in each round. Therefore, drivers will compete in a total of 15 races for the 2021 F3 Asian title, and so far, three rounds have been completed, with the remaining rounds due to be wrapped up by 20th February.
Round 1
The opening round proved to be a challenging one for Mumbai Falcons. In Race 1, Jehan Daruvala earned a third-place finish and his first podium. He had a good start from fourth on the grid and quickly moved up a place to third. From there, he managed to hold the position to claim the final spot on the podium. His teammate Kush Maini, meanwhile, did not have a good start to the weekend, as he made contact with Rafael Villagomez on the opening lap and, as a result, finished last in P21.
Race 2 saw a further decline in the final classification, as Maini was unable to start the race (DNS) and was out of the running, while Daruvala managed to secure a seventh-place finish after pulling a last-lap move on Roy Nissany.
Race 3 witnessed a dramatic start, as both Mumbai Falcon drivers ended up making contact with each other and, consequently, fell to the back of the grid. Despite a challenging start, Daruvala was able to overcome the incident, and with good pace, he managed to climb up the order and crossed the finish line in seventh place – a remarkable rise from P19. Maini, on the other hand, did not have the same pace as his teammate and was, therefore, relegated to the last spot, finishing the race in P20.
Round 2
This is the round in which Daruvala truly emerged in his top form. Scorching the tarmac at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit, Daruvala secured pole position for Race 1. He seemed to be in full control of the proceedings and despite a brief battle with Evans GP's Isack Hadjar, the Indian held his lead to register his first race win of the championship in only his second podium finish. Compared to the preceding round, his teammate Maini also had a better run, as he secured a P12 finish in the opening race.
Race 2 saw a much closer and fiercer battle between Daruvala and Hadjar. Despite having the pole advantage, Daruvala was under constant threat from the Evans GP driver, which reflected in the final race classification – after displaying a masterclass in defensive driving, Daruvala was able to fend off Hadjar to claim his second consecutive race win, with Hadjar crossing the chequered flag just 0.26 seconds behind the Indian. Maini went one better on his previous race result by finishing in P11.
Despite starting Race 3 on older tyres compared to those ahead of him on the start grid, Daruvala showed great skill in finishing the final race of the round in second place, making it a hat-trick of podium finishes in Round 2. His teammate Maini had to contend with yet another mediocre outing as he crossed the finish line in P17 in the final race.
Round 3
A back-to-back round on the same Yas Marina Circuit, Round 3 also saw Mumbai Falcons in top form. Daruvala once again started Race 1 from pole, but with only two sets of tyres allowed to each racer for each race weekend, Daruvala proceeded strategically and reserved the fresher set for the final race. Despite the move, he impressed everyone with a second-place finish. Maini wasn't too far either, as he scooped up an eighth-place finish in Race 1.
After a string of podium finishes, Daruvala started and finished Race 2 in sixth place – not a bad result by any means but certainly not the best one, given his form. Race 2 proved to be a good one for Maini though, as he managed to close in on his teammate a bit more and finished right behind him in P7.
Despite starting the final race of the round from pole, Daruvala, this time, was under attack from Abu Dhabi Racing's Guanyu Zhou. His proceedings were further hampered by a safety car period that more or less neutralised his lead. But, with good pace, he managed to pull away from Zhou and held the lead all the way to the chequered flag to register his third race win.
After Round 3 and with two more rounds left to go, both Mumbai Falcons and Daruvala (146 points) sit in the second spot in the overall team and driver classifications, respectively. If Daruvala is able to continue this form, it won't be surprising to see the homegrown outfit take the championship title home in its debut year.
Round 1 Results:
Race 1
1st – Guanyu ZHOU/Abu Dhabi Racing by Prema
2nd – Roy NISSANY/Hitech Grand Prix
3rd – Jehan DARUVALA/Mumbai Falcons
Race 2
1st – Guanyu ZHOU/Abu Dhabi Racing by Prema
2nd – Dino BEGANOVIC/Abu Dhabi Racing by Prema
3rd – Isack HADJAR/Evans GP
Race 3
1st – Pierre-Louis CHOVET/Pinnacle Motorsport
2nd – Dino BEGANOVIC/Abu Dhabi Racing by Prema
3rd – Roy NISSANY/Hitech Grand Prix
Round 2 Results:
Race 1
1st – Jehan DARUVALA/Mumbai Falcons
2nd – Guanyu ZHOU/Abu Dhabi Racing by Prema
3rd – Isack HADJAR/Evans GP
Race 2
1st – Jehan DARUVALA/Mumbai Falcons
2nd – Isack HADJAR/Evans GP
3rd – Dino BEGANOVIC/Abu Dhabi Racing by Prema
Race 3
1st – Pierre-Louis CHOVET/Pinnacle Motorsport
2nd – Jehan DARUVALA/Mumbai Falcons
3rd – Isack HADJAR/Evans GP
Round 3 Results:
Race 1
1st – Pierre-Louis CHOVET/Pinnacle Motorsport
2nd – Jehan DARUVALA/Mumbai Falcons
3rd – Guanyu ZHOU/Abu Dhabi Racing by Prema
Race 2
6th – Jehan DARUVALA/Mumbai Falcons
Race 3
1st – Jehan DARUVALA/Mumbai Falcons
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