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 lost him a points finish.
He finished 13th - just over two seconds outside the points.
Overall, the Indian finished seventh in the Drivers’ Championship.
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’m looking forward to having a bit of a break and recharging my batteries over the winter.”
