Jehan Daruvala created history on Friday when he became the first Indian to claim the pole position in round two of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship in the qualifying session for Round 2 in Monza.

Adding another milestone to his list of many Indian firsts in the world of motorsport, the 18-year-old put in a near perfect lap to claim his maiden pole position in F3 in only his second event.

His lap time of 1:44.105s, narrowly ahead of his teammate Lando Norris. The 18-year-old Indian’s feat came almost 16 years after Narain Karthikeyan was on pole in Macau while competing in the erstwhile British F3 Championship.

Britain’s Callum Illot was the fastest in the qualifying session for Round 2 of the Championship at the Grand Prix Circuit of Monza.

“I am really happy to have claimed my maiden Formula 3 pole position here. In free practice, I already had a good pace and the team made yet another step forward for qualifying. The first half of the session, prior to the scheduled pit stop, was relatively hectic for me. Then, with six or seven minutes remaining, I headed back out again and first of all tried to find a good track position,” Jehan said after the race.

“Once I had managed to do so, I was able to get another two laps in. The first lap was okay, but the second one was really good. A good slipstream certainly helped me as well, something you need at Monza. Now, I am particularly looking forward to tomorrow’s race in which I will be able to start from first place on the grid,” he added.

Formula 3 is considered one of the most crucial steps en route to Formula 1. Many drivers have moved from F3 to F1 directly, including Red Bull Racing’s prodigy Max Verstappen.

The weekend will feature three races in total – with race one scheduled tomorrow with a further two races scheduled on Sunday.