Story By: JAK CRAWFORD RACING – BAKU, AZERBAIJAN – Jak Crawford scored a second-place finish in Saturday’s Sprint Race in the Grand Prix of Azerbaijan, visiting the podium for the fifth time in the 2024 FIA Formula 2 Championship season.
The 19-year-old Texan completed the weekend with an eighth-place result in Sunday’s red flag-shortened Feature Race, his 19th top-10 finish competing for DAMS Lucas Oil Racing this season. The event extended his scoring streak to six races in a row with only four races remaining in the season.
Having shown strong pace all weekend, the American Formula 1 hopeful was not fully satisfied despite the double-points event after challenging for his second victory of the season following a big move to second on a late restart with just four laps remaining.
“Second was definitely a good result, but we were a bit disappointed because we couldn’t quite put it together all weekend to get the car in the right window, and we just missed out on the win because of that,” he said. “I was happy with scoring a few points, but we really struggled trying to put the car in a good window for this track.”
Once again in qualifying, Crawford was able to deliver when it counted, as a late session red flag set the stage for a single lap qualifying push to make it into the all-important top ten. Despite not having the optimum window to get to temperature with the tires, he was able to clock a 1:55.634-seconds lap to score the ninth fastest lap in the dying moments of the session, putting him on the front row for the Sprint Race.
“I was feeling good in qualifying, but unfortunately we didn’t have the pace in the car,” he said. “I put a decent enough lap in to secure myself into the top 10, which is quite important to score points in both races.”
Gridded second for the 21-lap Sprint on the tight street circuit, Crawford found his move covered at the start and he fell to fourth position in Turn 1 as he worked to overcome a clutch issue on the start and slotted into fourth.
He made a pass to take third with six laps remaining – moments before an incident brought out the lone safety car period of the race. He took second on the restart, but was unable to close the gap to the leader in the final laps.
“I was trying to come on at the end,” Crawford said. “That has been my strategy, and it’s worked well. I was racing against two rookies who were in their first weekend in F2, and I took advantage of the situation. I took care of the tires so I would be ready for the restart, but it seemed I had more tire degradation than the others at the end.”
Gridded ninth for Sunday’s feature, Crawford managed to get away despite the car in front of him failing to get off the line at lights-out – which led to a massive accident moments later that brought out a 40-minute red flag.
“I did have to avoid the stopped car, it just slowed me down a bit,” he said. “But for the guys in the back, they were going a lot faster.”
The long delay led to the race going from a scheduled 29-laps to time, with 27-minutes remaining at the restart. The event eventually covered only 17 laps.
Crawford restarted in ninth, and pitted a few laps into the event to make the mandatory change to harder tires. He took eighth with nine minutes remaining, and was working on taking another position when an incident with three minutes on the clock forced the race to finish behind the safety car.
“We struggled with the car again to find the right window, and that was it,” he said. “It was a very short race, and we lost out on the pit stop a little bit that cost us a few positions. At the end, I was attempting to make a move. I don’t know if it would have paid off, I was pushing everything to the end. Overall, a bit of an unfortunate race.”
Crawford now gets another two-month break before the season ends with back-to-back events at Lusail International Circuit in Qatar (Nov. 30-Dec. 1) and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit in the United Arar Emirates (Dec. 7-8). The Aston Martin Aramco Young Driver Development Program driver will spend some time back in the U.S., for the Grands Prix at his home city in Austin and Las Vegas.
“The break means I get to spend a lot of time on the Aston Martin simulator, and I have a lot to keep me busy during the break,” he said. “I think Lusail will suit the car, and then we will have to work quite hard for Abu Dhabi. I’m looking forward to finishing the season on a high, for sure.”