Learning weekend for Jehan Daruvala

Daruvala (R) with Force India driver Nico Hulkenberg

Sahara Force India Academy Driver Jehan Daruvala continued his learning process in his first season of formula cars, as a guest driver in the Formula Renault Alps series in Monza. Returning to the legendary track in which he made his Formula cars debut early in the year, Jehan started the weekend well with a fierce performance on Saturday. It was a day in which he converted a lowly 16th place in the grid to a convincing sixth place at the flag, overtaking seven drivers in the process.

Even though he was unable to battle for the win, owing to his starting position, Jehan demonstrated impressive pace, eventually lapping a quickest time of the race just two tenths of a second off the leader's. Unfortunately, that was to be the highlight of the young Mumbaikar's weekend: a good grid position - P6 - for the second race was made in vain as Jehan suffered a brake bias cable failure that affected his driving.

Despite technical issues, he delivered a gutsy performance to cross the line in eighth place after a race punctuated by battling with his rivals. The final race of the weekend didn't offer any opportunity for redemption. Having managed to avoid a first-lap accident that triggered a Safety Car period, Jehan was involved in a four-car pile-up at the restart. His race was over before it had truly started.

Nevertheless, hard weekends are a crucial part in a young driver's development and learning curve; Daruvala will have the chance to regroup and come back stronger as he prepares for the next race of his Alps campaign, scheduled for the weekend of 18/19 July in Misano, on Italy's Adriatic coast. Academy driver's audience with the masters (Hulkenberg & Perez meet Jehan) As a young driver in his first year of single-seater action, Daruvala has a long and steep learning curve ahead of him.

Notwithstanding his huge talent, there is a lot the Mumbaikar has to learn on his way to becoming India's next Formula One star - a wealth of experience and information on race craft, setup optimisation and even mental training that needs to be accrued before making the step into the highest echelon of motorsport. The Sahara Force India Academy driver, however, has an ace up his sleeve - or, most appropriately, two as he can count on the advice of a pair of the most highly regarded drivers in Formula One: Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez.

Ahead of the British Grand Prix, Daruvala visited the Sahara Force India headquarters in Silverstone to meet with our race drivers. It was an occasion for Nico and Checo to catch up on the development of the team's own young star and for Jehan to quiz our aces about all things driving, training and much more. For Hulkenberg and Daruvala, it was also an opportunity to reconnect after first meeting in 2011: the Hulk was part of the original selection panel during the final stages of the One From A Billion talent hunt, the India-wide search for the next motorsport star that produced Jehan as the Academy's first inductee.

Hulkenberg, who was impressed by the young Indian driver's natural skill back in the day, got the chance to share his own experience of development through the junior formulas with Daruvala, giving tips and advice to the team's protege. While it may have been his first time meeting Perez, Daruvala immediately felt comfortable and asked the Mexican plenty of questions, and Perez was more than happy to help with anecdotes and suggestions drawn from his own career.

There is no substitute for experience, the saying goes: but the ability for Jehan to access these unique sources of information, together with the extensive development plan created by the team as part of the Academy programme, give the Indian racer the best possible chance to extract his own talent to the maximum extent and be successful in motorsport.