F2 driver retires from Belgian GP after headrest flies off car onto racetrack

Formula 2 driver Jehan Daruvala was forced to retire in the most unfortunate circumstances at the Belgian Grand Prix after bizarrely watching his headrest fall off his car during a sprint race. Daruvala, who had lost the lead early on before regaining top spot, experienced disaster on the track when his headrest came loose in a bizarre incident.

On the second lap of the sprint race, his headrest appeared to come apart from its fixed position on Daruvala’s MP Motorsport car. Unfortunately for Daruvala, he was unable to keep the safety part attached as it flew off, skidded across the tarmac and forced the safety car to be brought out from the pits.

Daruvala was forced to head into the pits due to the safety issues that not having a headrest would cause, and his team pre-empted the race director’s call to bring him in.

However, his team did not have a replacement part available to fix onto the car, and Daruvala was forced to retire as a result.

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F1 fans may remember a similar incident that Lewis Hamilton had at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix when his headrest detached itself, and the Briton was forced to pit to try and push it back down.

The incident cost him the lead at Baku, but the safety element involved means it is a non-negotiate pit stop for any unlucky driver.

Daruvala, 24, has four wins and 18 podiums from 86 race starts in the feeder series to Formula 1. The Indian driver tested F1 cars for McLaren at Silverstone, Portimao and Le Castellet during the 2022 season.

At this start of this season, Red Bull announced Daruvala would not be continuing as part of their young driver programme and he was recently announced as Mahindra Racing’s test driver in Formula Ed.

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It proved to be a devastating result for the ex-Red Bull academy driver after he had led earlier in the race. Enzo Fittipaldi, the son of former world champion Emmerson Fittipaldi, claimed his first F2 victory for Carlin ahead of Van Amersvoort Racing’s Richard Verschoor.

Daruvala had been optimistic heading into the race even despite the threat of rain forcing the drivers to go onto different tyres. He finished 10th in the qualifying session and therefore secured pole position due to the reverse grid conditions in F2.

“I think our pace is good in the wet, so that’s important. I’m leading, so hopefully I have a good start and can control the race from there. I just hope it’s either wet or dry and not a lot of pit stops in the middle because that’s not where you want to be when you’re leading. I have clean air so I should be able to pick my line and go for it from the beginning, so that’s going to be the goal.”

He was hoping for an incident-free race, but the adventurous headrest clearly had other ideas and Daruvala leaves Spa-Francorchamps without points from the sprint race, although Sunday’s feature race will offer an opportunity to make amends.

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