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Indian driver Jehan Daruvala earned his maiden Formula 2 podium after beating championship leader Mick Schumacher in a thrilling battle for third place at the Bahrain Grand Prix support race here.
Starting eighth on the grid, Daruvala gained two positions and remained sixth for a few laps. However, on lap 5, he lost two positions and was forced to leave the circuit.
The resulting loss of speed cost him more positions. He remained in tenth position for a few laps before returning to the pits to change tires.
The 22-year-old Indian came out of the pits in 18th place but recovered quickly. He gained more positions as the others pitted and was sixth on lap 19 of the 32-lap race.
Daruvala soon overtook multi-race winner Robert Schwartzman to move up to fifth place. Race leader Schumacher then made his mandatory pit stop. Daruvala’s dizzying pace after his pit stop meant that Schumacher emerged from the pits behind the Indian, who was now third.
The two were on par for at least another six laps, before Schumacher began to close the gap on Daruvala, thanks to the German’s cooler tires.
Schumacher immediately reduced the gap from 2 seconds to around 1.5 seconds. With the fastest medium compounds, he was able to narrow the gap down to 0.7 seconds with five laps remaining.
This meant that Schumacher was now also able to use his DRS (Drag Reduction System) which gave him extra speed on three straights around the F1 circuit.
It seemed only a matter of curves before Schumacher passed Daruvala. However, within a few laps, Daruvala without the DRS option and a tire disadvantage drove one of his best races of the season.
Daruvala’s excellent race led Schumacher to make a couple of mistakes. This allowed the Indian room to breathe. He continued his smart drive to widen the gap and crossed the line 0.894 seconds ahead of Schumacher, earning him third place.
Felipe Drugovich won the race ahead of Callum Ilott. Daruvala was runner-up in the FIA Formula 3 championship last year.
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