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Second-year Formula 2 driver Jak Crawford is in the top five in the points standings.
After finishing seventh in his second year of Formula 3, Crawford stepped up to Formula 2 in 2023 with Hitech Grand Prix (now Hitech Pulse-Eight).
In his rookie Formula 2 season, the American driver took one Sprint Race win and four further podiums, as well as one pole position on his way to ending the year in 13th place overall. He switched teams for 2024, heading to DAMS Lucas Oil for his second season of Formula 2.
Most recently, in Baku this past weekend, Crawford qualified ninth. This result put him in second place to start for the reverse grid Sprint Race.
After finishing second in an entertaining Sprint Race, Crawford spoke to select media, including FormulaNerds, about his second place finish.
Yeah, it was an interesting start,” he commented. “I wasn’t expecting that to be honest. Maybe it was a bit dirty, and we just got it a bit wrong. Not a great start, obviously fell back to 4th, although I knew it was going to be a long race.
“We were still in the DRS train, and I wasn’t under any pressure from behind really, so it was a long race. I slowly made my way up past Kush Maini. Then I was actually about to pass Gabriele Minì when the when the Safety Car came out and then everyone had no grip at the restart, so I managed to gain another position. Not quite fast enough for the win, but good points for sure.”
Improvement from rookie season
A second place finish in the Sprint Race and an eighth place finish in the Feature Race the next day leaves him fifth in the current standings.
With two rounds left still in the 2024 season, Crawford has already doubled his points total from last year, sitting on 116 points to last year’s 57. In 2023, he scored points in just ten of the 26 races. In 2024, he’s finished in the points in 17 out of 24 races (with four still to go).
FormulaNerds asked Crawford after the Sprint Race where his improvement has come from and what he’s still looking to improve on. He cited his relationship with DAMS and the knowledge he was able to bring to the team from his rookie season as a major factor in his performance.
“I’m in my second year, I feel like I’ve learned a lot,” he answered. “I feel like I’ve learned about what I want from the car and how to be fast. And I’ve been able to take that over to DAMS and I’ve been able to lead the way in what I want and it’s been a really good combination.
“There’s always stuff to improve on. I think the main one would be qualifying at the moment, normally we’ve been strong in the races and qualifying has been our limiting factor. So that’s where we have to improve if we want to keep fighting for wins, but I’m happy with the season so far.”
Crawford and DAMS have two rounds left in the season to find some improvement in qualifying, the first of which takes place in Qatar at the end of October.
Feature Image Credit: Joe Portlock – Formula 1/Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images