Daruvala ‘doesn’t know what to expect’ on Formula E debut

The 25-year-old Indian is the only rookie on the Formula E grid this season and will partner Maximilian Guenther at the Maserati MSG squad, with his first outing set to come in the Mexico City E-Prix later today. 

The 35-lap contest will be Daruvala’s first chance of running in a race environment after problems in pre-season testing meant he never got the chance to simulate a run with other drivers. 

“It’s going to be exciting this weekend because my first race run is actually going to be in the race, in Valencia we had the disruption [garage battery fire] so there was the miss of one race and then the next day I had a battery issue on the race run,” Daruvala told Motorsport.com.  

“I think this track is not as energy sensitive as other tracks are. I think it’s a good one to have my rookie race at and see what I can experience and take forward.” 

Photo by: Andreas Beil

Jehan Daruvala, Maserati Racing

Daruvala moves to Formula E having spent four seasons in Formula 2, during which time he took four race wins and a best overall finish of seventh in the standings in 2021 and 2022. 

He was also Mahindra’s reserve Formula E driver last term and had the chance to take part in several official sessions ahead of this year.

“In all honesty I would have liked to be on the Formula E grid already last year but there were not too many opportunities,” said Daruvala.  

“It was either go to Japan for a year, which didn’t really make sense for one year, so in the end I decided I’d rather race than not race, that was the main goal of a fourth season in F2.  

“I pretty much knew even if I won the championship, I wasn’t going to F1, so it was just preparing myself, keeping active, keep driving and now I’ve got my chance in Formula E.  

“I want to make Formula E my long-term future and to do that I need to have a good rookie year. That’s going to be my goal.”