The Monza Circuit bore witness to yet another feat as 18-year old Jehan Daruvala took his maiden pole position in round two of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, adding another milestone to his growing roaster of Indian firsts in the world of motorsport. FIA Formula 3 is the junior racing category in the world, having produced some of the best racing talents ever known including Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.
Driving for Carlin Motorsport, Daruvala was in the mix at the sharp end of the field straightaway despite only being in his second race weekend of the series at the 5.79-km circuit. Running alongside the World Touring Car Championship this weekend, the FIA F3 featured two practice sessions before qualifying, where Daruvala put in some solid work to finish fifth and third. Having made some refinements to the setup thereafter, Daruvala brought it all together for qualifying – taking pole position with a lap-time of 1:44.105, which was just 0.030s quicker than his Carlin teammate Lando Norris.
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Top six drivers from the grid of 19 were covered by just half a second in qualifying, showcasing the competitiveness of the series. It was a good day out for Carlin Motorsport as a whole, claiming positions 1-2-3-5 on the grid. The weekend will feature three races in total – with race one scheduled tomorrow with a further two races scheduled on Sunday.
| POS | DRIVER | COUNTRY | TEAM | TIME |
| 1 | JehanDaruvala | INDIA | CARLIN | 1:44.105 |
| 2 | Lando Norris | UK | CARLIN | 1:44.135 |
| 3 | Jake Dennis | UK | CARLIN | 1:44.202 |
| 4 | CallumIlott | UK | PREMA | 1:44.370 |
| 5 | Ferdinand Hasburg | AUSTRIA | CARLIN | 1:44.552 |
| 6 | Joel Eriksson | SWEDEN | MOTOPARK | 1:44.554 |