Photo: Red Bull Content Pool
Red Bull junior Jehan Daruvala will get his first experience of driving a Formula 1 car this week in a test organised by McLaren.
Daruvala has been a Red Bull junior since 2020, when he started racing in Formula 2, and is currently its highest placed driver in junior single-seater racing as he sits third in the F2 standings after six rounds and with five podiums to his name.
His test debut was announced by McLaren on the Monday after the Canadian Grand Prix, with no parallel announcement despite his allegiance to the rival team. Daruvala recently spoke to Formula Scout about his F1 chances with Red Bull.
“As part of our testing previous car (TPC) programme, Jehan Daruvala will test the MCL35M at Silverstone on 21 June and 22 June. Enjoy your first drive in an F1 car, Jehan,” read McLaren’s announcement.
The MCL35M is the car McLaren raced in F1 last year, and it took five podiums including victory at the Italian Grand Prix.
Several of Daruvala’s Red Bull stablemates in F2 have already tested for the brand that supports then, with Juri Vips holding a reserve driver role at Red Bull Racing and Liam Lawson testing for AlphaTauri at the end of last year.
FIA Formula 3 graduates Dennis Hauger and Ayumu Iwasa are yet to pick up F1 mileage, although Iwasa’s fellow Honda junior Ren Sato – who is also a Red Bull Junior Team member – has already been given his chance at professional single-seater racing as he is driving in Super Formula this year for Team Goh and is currently 15th in the points with a best finish of ninth achieved on his debut when he also starred to qualify on the front row.
McLaren’s own young driver development programme currently only consists of British Formula 4 rookie Ugo Ugochukwu.