Jehan Daruvala was left frustrated in spite of a podium finish in race one of the seventh round of the FIA F3 Championship here in Monza on Saturday.
Racing at the historic high-speed circuit, the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix support event, saw Jehan climb from tenth to second, only to suffer issues denying the Indian a potential race win.
Electronics issues disabled Jehan’s DRS, in turn preventing him from gaining top speed on the two vital long straights.
A bizarre qualifying session on Friday saw 17 racers, including all three racers in Jehan’s Prema Racing Team, receiving penalties for backing up each other to get the perfect position to gain vital lap time on the long straights.
As the lights went out, Jehan made a good start and overtook Brazilian racer, Pedro Piquet. Two cars tangled in front and Jehan moved up to seventh before he overtook British Racer Max Fewtrell to climb to sixth.
The Indian driver then quickly went passed Christian Lundgaard into fourth before the safety car was deployed.
The DRS is crucial in Monza due to the long straights and the inability to use it proved to be a severe handicap while fighting a bunch of cars.
Jehan drove brilliantly once the safety car pulled into the pits to take third place from Richard Verschoor into the first corner.
The race ended behind the safety car but Jehan's teammate Marcus Armstrong in second received a penalty, promoting the Indian to second behind his other teammate and championship leader Robert Shwartzman who won the race.
"The race was a lot of fun, starting P10 and finishing P2 with such a good result for the team. It was very frustrating for me, not having DRS so I couldn't really battle for the lead, and I really wanted to, I know we had the pace. Second is good but I'm a little upset for not having the opportunity to fight for the win."
Shwartzman’s victory means the Russian was able to pull further away from Jehan in the Championship. Jehan remains in second after earning his seventh podium of the season.
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