Academy driver´s audience with the masters (Hulkenberg & Perez meet Jehan)

As a young driver in his first year of single-seater action, Jehan 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, Jehan 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 Nico and Jehan, 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.

Nico, 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 Jehan, giving tips and advice to the team´s protege. While it may have been the first time meeting Sergio, Jehan immediately felt comfortable and asked plenty of questions to the Mexican, who 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.