Daruvala hails consistency, moves to third in the standings

The Force India junior driver started the Waikato weekend with two fourth place and a sixth in the three official practice sessions respectively.

Daruvala improved in qualifying to end 0.171s off polesitter Lando Norris in the first session while for the third race, he was third, only 0.011s behind Pedro Piquet's time.

In the first race of the weekend, the Indian finished second, 1.533s behind winner Norris and ahead of third place Piquet.

Both Daruvala and Norris matched each other throughout the 15-laps race with the British driver just about staying ahead to win.

Daruvala, however, got the consolation fastest lap of the race with a time of 1m00.580s.

A reverse grid in race two, he started seventh and got a good getaway before getting hit and dropping to 10th, from where he salvaged fourth to finish behind Guanyu Zhou, Brendon Leitch and Piquet.

In the final race, the Indian started second after penalty to Norris, survived two safety car period to eventually finish third behind Piquet and James Munro.

"I have been consistent the entire weekend," said Daruvala after the third round.

"It was unfortunate that I fell from fifth to tenth in race two. Climbing back to fourth ensured the points.

"The championship is much closer now but I am going to stay focused and treat each race individually," he added.

After round three, Norris leads with 518 points with Piquet in second with 466 and Daruvala moving up to third with 463 and Zhou right at his tail at 460.

It is a tight battle behind Norris as only 14 points separate from the second place Piquet to fifth place Leitch.