Zandvoort F3: Daruvala scores podium despite swollen hand

In a repeat of Hungary, the otherwise frontrunning Carlin team was off the pace in Friday practice and qualifying, leaving Daruvala outside the top 10 grid spots in two of the three races.

As a quick remedy, Carlin reverted to last year’s setup on Daruvala’s car but with overtaking notoriously difficult at Zandvoort, the Force India junior could only gain one place in Race 1 and finished 12th.

Hitech’s Enaam Ahmed then clouted Daruvala on the opening lap of Race 2, forcing the 19-year-old to limp to the pits and eventually retire the car.

The stewards deemed Ahmed responsible for the accident and handed him a three-place grid penalty and a point on his license.

Daruvala was left with a swollen hand from the incident, but he nevertheless took part in the final race of the weekend for which he had qualified sixth.

A quick getaway allowed him to jump past staller Juri Vips and Fabio Scherer to quickly move up to fourth place. When polesitter Dan Ticktum was slapped with a drive through penalty for a jump start, Daruvala was promoted to third and the final spot on the podium.

It was his third rostrum finish of the season after Pau (France) and Norisring (Germany).