India's Jehan Daruvala lights up Formula E circuit with impressive two points, finishes 9th in all electric race

Young Indian racer Jehan Daruvala has been phenomenal in the Formula E. Despite facing some troubles at the start of the all-electric racing series Daruvala scored his first points. After four seasons with Formula 2, Daruvala started his rookie season with Maserati MSG Racing.

On Sunday, 14th April 2024, Daruvala clinched two points by finishing ninth in the Misano E-Prix race. In the previous races, Daruvala had some mixed results in the FIA World Championship series. He had to retire twice, and his finishes ranged from 16th to 20th place.

In the latest race Maserati team did well, grabbing a podium finish on Saturday. Maximilian Günther got third place after Antonio Felix da Costa was disqualified for a technical issue. In qualifying for the next race, Max narrowly missed getting into the top positions and started from 12th place. On the other hand, Daruvala struggled and ended up starting from 21st place due to not setting a good lap time.

Jehan Daruvala struggled to get a good start

When the race began, Max made a good start and quickly moved up to seventh place on the first lap. However, Daruvala had trouble with traction and lost some positions. Max then used his first Attack Mode on lap five, allowing him to switch between fifth and ninth place. But then, a Safety Car was deployed on lap eight because of an accident involving Robin Frijns, pausing the race.

After a strong restart, Daruvala quickly moved up from 20th to 16th place. He kept pushing ahead, using his extra energy to pass other racers and make it into the top 10 by the last lap. He said, “It feels good to score my first points in Formula E. We were starting from the back row, but as a team, we decided on a strategy which we executed very well.”

“We stuck to our plans, our communication was clear, and it resulted in my first top-10 finish of the season. I’m very happy, and from here, the goal is to fight for more in the future. Even after six races, I’m learning all of the time, and I know that there’s still scope for me to learn from today’s race. Monaco is up next and it’s a circuit that I’ve had some success at before,” said Daruvala.