Jehan Daruvala has confirmed his move to FIA Formula 2 (F2) Championship with Carlin Racing for the 2020 season as he joins the Red Bull Junior Team family.
Having spent three seasons in European F3 and FIA F3, where he ended up third last year with Prema while being in the title fight against Robert Shwartzman, Daruvala will move up the ladder to F2 as he re-unites with British outfit Carlin.
He joins Honda junior Yuki Tsunoda as Carlin will have an all-rookie line-up for 2020 F2 season. The bigger news is Daruvala becoming a Red Bull junior as he will race in those colours alongside fellow member in F2 and also other series.
The Indian was scheduled to test in Abu Dhabi after the end of his F3 season but an injury sidelined him for months until now as he has recovered well from the surgery. He was to compete with Prema in Macau GP as well but had to pull out due to injury.
He was seen with a walking stick during the junior series’ award ceremony. “I’m very happy to be back for my third season with Carlin, it’s great to be working with some of the same people again on the engineering side as I make the step up to F2,” said Daruvala.
“It’s a new challenge for me, but I think for everyone, including the teams there will be things to learn this year. I’m very proud to be going into the season as a Red Bill Junior which will of course be added pressure but I believe I have the platform to deliver, so it’s going to be up to me. I can’t wait to get going.”
At the same time, Trevor Carlin said: “We’re delighted to welcome Jehan back to the team for his third season with us. His performances last year in FIA F3 were extremely impressive and we really believe in him.
“There’s no reason why he can’t make it all the way to the top. Without a doubt there will be a lot to learn – both for Jehan as a driver in a more powerful car and also for the team with the new 18-inch wheels but we have a great team ready to meet those challenges.”
2020 F2 line-up so far:
Prema: Mick Schumacher and Robert Shwartzman
HWA Racelab: Artem Markelov and Giuliano Alesi
ART Grand Prix: Marcus Armstrong and Christian Lundgaard
UNI-Virtuosi Racing: Callum Ilott and Guanyu Zhou
DAMS: Daniel Ticktum and Sean Gelael
MP Motorsport: Felipe Drugovich and Nobuharu Matsushita
Carlin: Yuki Tsunoda and Jehan Daruvala
Hitech GP: Luca Ghiotto and Nikita Mazepin
Campos Racing: Jack Aitken and Guilherme Samaia
Here’s the test dates for F2 in 2020
Here’s details on the race numbers to used with no #19
Here’s the links to the five episodes of F2: Chasing The Dream docu
Here’s details on the changed F2 and F3 regulation for 2020