Jehan Daruvala says he’s already put the disappointment of Monte Carlo behind him, where “everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong,” and says he is now focused on starting fresh in Baku.
After a solid season opener in Sakhir, where he scored second, fourth and sixth, the Carlin racer felt primed to build on the results in Monaco, but instead came away with just a single point.
Losing reverse grid pole to Marcus Armstrong on the final lap of Sprint Race 1, before succumbing to a broken front wing on the opening lap the Feature Race, Daruvala’s only point came from a P8 finish in the second Sprint.
Despite the setback, the Carlin racer says he’s determined not to dwell on it.
“In hindsight, things could have gone better, but you cannot change anything, so you’re best to just get on with it,” said Daruvala. “But I do think it’s important to think about what went wrong, because if not then these things might happen again. Now I can change my approach a bit for this weekend.
“This is another street track, but I am quite confident that I will be pretty quick. The results from the first round were really good, so hopefully I can put Monaco behind me, learn what I need to learn from it and start again like I did at the start of the season.”
Arriving on the back of a round where moving up the field was difficult, the Indian says he’s excited by the overtaking opportunities of Baku, where qualifying won’t be as important.
“It’s my first time here, but I have done plenty of laps around the circuit on the simulator,” said Daruvala. “It is always different out on track though, so I’ve been looking forward to hitting the circuit. I feel pretty confident that we will be quite competitive.
“The straights are super long, so if you’re quick you can always move forward. Qualifying will be important as always, but if you are fast in the races then as long as you start anywhere inside of the top 10 you’ve got a chance at a podium.”