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


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

Jehan Daruvala

The Formula 2 championship’s fate has been decided: It’s in Felipe Drugovich’s bag, but there is still some room to manoeuvre in the lower places. The gap from Logan Sargeant in 3rd to Juri Vips in 10th is just about 26 points. Jehan Daruvala, who currently sits 5th, and just recently took his first win of the season, is in with a shot as well.

ADVERTISEMENT

He’s level on points with Jack Doohan and just 9 points behind Sargeant, which means there is a very real possibility of him finishing in the podium places in the F2 championship. But a route to Formula 1 is still rather hard for him. One thing that should help him along this is his testing with McLaren.

Daruvala has already tested the 2021 McLaren MCL35M twice before this season, once in Silverstone, and once in Algarve. Now, he has the opportunity to do it for the third time this year, when he will be taking the helm of the car in France.

Also Read: India’s Jehan Daruvala heads to Hungary eyeing seventh podium finish of the season

ADVERTISEMENT

Jehan Daruvala: ‘Still looking for a reserve driver role.’

Jehan Daruvala
Jehan Daruvala

Jehan Daruvala is accepted to be the best shot at an Indian Formula 1 driver in many years, even if there is not a lot of hope surrounding this. He’s a part of the Red Bull junior programme, and certainly has experience in Formula 2. Testing the McLaren car should also help him learn about the complexities of a Formula 1 car, even if it’s an older one. And fans are completely ecstatic.

Posting on Twitter, McLaren wrote: “Indian driver Jehan Daruvala will be back in the 2021 MCL35M as part of our Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) programme this week at Circuit Paul Ricard.”

A seat in F1 is rather unlikely for the Indian driver right now, but he won’t be sitting around waiting for it. In a blog post by Red Bull, Daruvala said: “I am still looking for a reserve role in F1 for next year. Then hoping for a race seat in the following year. It happens to all the drivers. You keep waiting for the decision for F1 seat, but then you run out of options for that year of racing.”

He added that he may try his hand at IndyCar or Formula E: “For next year, I still don’t know what I’m going to do. If it’s not F1, I would still like to be racing somewhere. Whether its IndyCar or Formula E, I would like to stay in single seaters.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Of course, a Formula 1 seat is the top priority for him, and while he is willing to wait a year or two for an opportunity to become a reserve driver come up, but no longer.

Also Read: Formula 2: India’s Jehan Daruvala Seals Emphatic Victory in Sprint Race at 2021 Italian Grand Prix

Also Read: Jehan Daruvala to test McLaren MCL35 this week