Daruvala chooses European F3 for 2017 season
Force India protege Jehan Daruvala will graduate to the European Formula 3 championship for the 2017 season, and will also return to the Toyota Racing Series.
The Indian competed in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and Formula Renault 2.0 NEC with the Josef Kaufmann Racing team in the 2016 season, ending up ninth and fourth respectively.
For the next season, the Mumbai-based driver has chosen the F3 series over GP3, having tested with various F3 teams over the winter.
“I can confirm that I will be doing F3 in 2017,” Daruvala told Motorsport.com. “I have had a few tests in the F3 car and have loved the feeling of the extra grip and downforce.
“It tends to suit my driving style and I am looking forward to being a part of an excellent championship. The decision with which team I’ll race in F3 will be announced very soon.
“I missed two weeks of winter testing due to a viral infection. Hence, I will need to maximise the few days of F3 testing that I get and will [therefore] skip the [Abu Dhabi] GP3 test.
“And yes, I will be doing the TRS again with M2 Competition. I enjoyed the series in 2016.”
“It is an excellent series to do in the winter and will help me gain more experience before a big step up to F3 next year.”
Results in 2016 “not up to my expectations” – Q&A
So, how would you sum up your season both in the NEC and Eurocup. Results-wise, they probably not as high you would have wanted?
After having finished fifth in NEC last year and four podiums in Europe in my first year of single-seaters, I was very confident going into the 2016 season.
Yes, the results have definitely not been up to my expectations. I was definitely hoping for many more podiums and wins and to finish much higher in the championship standings than fourth & ninth respectively with one win and four podiums in NEC and the lone podium in Eurocup.
You seem to have started off well in NEC and were genuinely in contention for the title – what went wrong afterwards? And what happened in the Eurocup?
In the NEC, right till the last round at Hockenheim, I was in very close contention for second. However, after the crash in FP1, things went downhill. The team worked hard to resolve the issues and it worked smoothly in FP2.
However, in qualifying, my actuator spring broke and the gears were getting stuck, meaning I was thrown to the back of the field for a weekend having three races. It pretty much ended my challenge but despite that we missed third by just three points.
Meanwhile, the Monza weekend in the Eurocup put me back, I had excellent speed but an issue in qualifying and then a misjudgement in Race 2 under yellow flags caused it to be a forgettable weekend.
The qualifying went bad while I was in the tow of another driver, I went into the gravel as he backed off on his lap, forcing me to take evasive action. Despite that I had good pace to finish seventh in Race 1. Of course, I could have finished even higher but for a mistake I made when I went off track.
In Race 2, I started 11th and was was running fifth when I made a move on Will Palmer to fourth. However since there were double yellow flags being waved, I felt that I had wrongly overtaken him and as I backed off, we collided.
