India’s Jehan Daruvala to continue in Formula 2 with MP Motorsport

Jehan Daruvala, who competed in F2 with PREMA in 2022, will move to MP Motorsport for the upcoming season, where he'll partner with Dennis Hauger - again.


India’s Jehan Daruvala to continue in Formula 2 with MP Motorsport

Jehan Daruvala (Image Credit: MP Motorsport)

Indian driver Jehan Daruvala has signed up for MP Motorsport, moving across from PREMA. This will be his fourth year in Formula 2, with his highest finish to date being a P7, which he achieved in both 2021 and 2022. MP won last year’s Teams’ championship, with driver Felipe Drugovich dominating the whole grid, taking the title by 99 points to second-placed Théo Pourchaire.

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Rather curiously, he will partner with Dennis Hauger for the second season in a row, but now with a different team. Hauger, of course, is part of the Red Bull junior team, while Daruvala was recently released by them. This forms an interesting dynamic going into the upcoming season. In 2022, Daruvala had beaten the rookie Hauger narrowly by 11 points, despite the Norwegian winning more races.

Apart from Formula 2, the Indian driver will also take on reserve driver duties with Mahindra Racing, in Formula E. Last year, he stated in an interview with Red Bull that he was looking for a reserve driver role in F1. Unfortunately for him, that has turned out to be out of grasp for him. In an earlier interview, he had also stated that 2022 would be his last year in F2. The plans have changed.

Read More: ‘SaddaPlan’: Indians overjoyed with Jehan Daruvala lining up for his third McLaren test

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Jehan Daruvala: Team-up with MP Motorsport makes F2 return ‘extra special’

Jehan Daruvala
Jehan Daruvala

MP Motorsport were the F2 teams’ champion last year (though Felipe Drugovich did most of the work), and Jehan Daruvala would certainly be hoping that he can climb up the order with them. The current Formula 1 grid is stacked with talent, and his chances look rather slim right now. But if he can perform with MP, it’ll be a boost to his chances. The Indian driver is clearly delighted to join forces with such a good team.

In the blog post announcing his arrival at MP Motosport, Daruvala said: “I’m really pleased to be back in FIA Formula 2, and to be able to team up with MP Motorsport makes it extra special. Last year, I was stunned by MP’s remarkably consistent front-running pace, and in 2023 I hope to be the beneficiary of that myself! Together with Dennis, I’m confident that our combined experience and speed will contribute to MP fighting for wins once again. I really enjoyed working with the team in the post-season test and look forward to 2023 testing and the season that lies ahead.”

Indian fans will be looking forward to seeing Daruvala in action again, and will continue to hope that he can one day make it into Formula 1, or another big series like IndyCar. He is generally considered to be the country’s best chance of an F1 driver.

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