Jak Crawford secured his second pole position in Formula 2 at the Saudi Arabian GP and DAMS Lucas Oil’s first pole position since Melbourne in 2023. Despite his decent start in the Saudi Arabian GP with a P7 finish in free practice, Crawford suffered at the outset of qualifying. The American driver therefore found himself largely off the pace of his rivals.
“I think that because we were very strong in free practice, I think one of the strongest and the first run was so bad in qualifying, I was seven tenths off the pace.”
Resigned, the returning driver expected to merely finish in the top 10, as his first push lap was hindered by a red flag resulting from John Bennett’s incident. Nevertheless, the DAMS Lucas Oil team tweaked the car set-up in between runs, optimizing Crawford’s performance. The 19-year-old driver was astounded by the surprisingly fast time he consequently set.
“We had a red flag on my first push, so I said you know it’s not going to be our day, and I’m going to do my best and try to you know bring home a top 10.
“Just everything came together, the changes we made between the two runs. The lap was really good as well, and then you know when I crossed the lap time I couldn’t believe my eyes the lap time I saw so yeah it just came together quite perfectly there at the end.”
An improved car set-up to bounce back in Qualifying
Crawford credited the improved performance to changes on the car rather than driver ability: “I feel like a lot of it was down to the changes we made on the car”. Nonetheless, the American elaborated on his confidence in his car.
“I felt quite on it, I’ve obviously been here before, I felt quite on it straight away in qualifying.
Crawford’s first slow run therefore came as a surprise. Yet, the driver fully understood how to enhance his performance.
“I was quite shocked when I was P13 on the first run, so I knew what to do driving wise for the second run, how to improve slightly.”
The American lauded the team’s work on an optimal qualifying set-up.
“I think the biggest step was with the car. We made the right changes, we got everything in the right window, and you know when that happens it’s going to be a good qualifying session.”
Crawford’s gamble pays off
After Bennett’s mishap led to a red flag, Crawford was under pressure to set a fast lap time to secure a good place on the starting grid. Assessing the queue forming in the pitlane, Crawford took a chance and went last in the hopes of getting clean air. The gamble paid off, explained a pleased Crawford.
“We were dead last in the pit lane so once everyone went at the green and it was like a massive queue, so I just told my engineer it’s fine to be last.
“We had to risk it all because we needed the good preparation to the lap and it’s exactly what I got, I got a bunch of clean space, and it was exactly what I needed.”
Securing pole position in qualifying, Crawford starts P8 for the first race of the weekend and on the front of the grid for the second one. The drivers will experience radically different conditions and temperatures between Race 1 and 2, he explained.
“They’re definitely going to be two very different races; obviously race one is going to be at night and race two more in the day in hotter conditions so it’s going to be two very different races also starting from middle of the pack compared to front of the pack.”
Crawford targets first point scoring of the season
Crawford’s aim in the Saudi Arabian GP will be to score his first points of the season for DAMS Lucas Oil. As for the Sunday race, the American seeks to maximise his result. Starting at the front of the grid, Crawford will benefit from clean air, allowing for a better performance.
“I think tomorrow obviously, I still want to score points. These pole points are the first points I’ve gotten this year.
“I want to just put some points on the board and have a good result and then of course on Sunday we want to make use of the clean air, especially a high-speed track like this clean air is king if you can just drive alone in free air so that’ll be my goal for Sunday.”
Simulated racing is key to improve adaptability
On how simulated racing helps pilots adapt, Crawford said that “especially in Formula 2, Formula 3, it’s all about adaptability, that’s the big thing […]”.
The American underlined the limited amount of practice time available to drivers. “Only 45 minutes of practice, sometimes with tonnes of red flags” he explained. Simulated racing is therefore crucial to drivers. Crawford extensively trains on the simulator to prepare ahead of race weekends.
“Me myself, I’m in the simulator honestly almost every day, whether it’s with DAMS preparing for races or with Aston Martin or Andretti in Formula E, so I’m always in the sim it seems.
“I go home, and I drive on my simulator at home. So, I feel very well prepared when I come to the races, and I know what to expect, and I would definitely say that in this generation it definitely helps to have all those tools available.”
A challenging start to the season
Reflecting on a disappointing first two rounds this season, Crawford lamented technical issues and incomprehensible Bahrain GP.
“It’s been a rough start, you know, we were actually very fast in Melbourne, qualifying P3. I didn’t do the races, obviously the one was cancelled, I had a technical issue on the first race, I retired on lap two, so I didn’t race in Melbourne, and Bahrain honestly was a bit of an outlier for us. We struggled, and we still honestly don’t know why […]”.
Nevertheless, DAMS Lucas Oil and Crawford are confident for the Saudi Arabian GP, drawing insights from their 2024 success in Jeddah.
“[…] but we knew we would arrive here with a good baseline from last year, and to be on the pace straight away, we just had to find little things to improve on last year’s result where we qualified P3 and scored both races in the top five.”
Leveraging his 2024 performance, Crawford is hopeful for the Saudi Arabian GP.
“Feeling good for this weekend, I think obviously we have good data and everything from myself last year here and just hope to improve on those two results.”
However, Crawford is unable to draw a comparison between Formula 2 and his recent practice session as Andretti’s development driver in Formula E. Both categories feature tracks and cars that are fundamentally different, the American elaborated.
“Then regarding the Formula E experience here, honestly it didn’t help much, it was only about two corners that are the same, on a completely different car, completely different tyres.
“So, it went from a slow speed track basically in the Formula E to a fully high-speed circuit.”
An adapted set-up to secure pole position
After a disappointing first run in qualifying, the DAMS Lucas Oil team opted to adjust the car setup for the remainder of the session.
“I’m not gonna say what I did, or else my competitors will take it […]” joked Crawford. He clarified that his machine had very little grip in the first stint.
“[…] but we just struggled to be in the right window on the first run, the grip felt really poor.
“I only improved, let’s say, I think it was half a tenth or one tenth between my second and first push, so we were not in the right window.”
The team, expecting this situation, were prepared to improve the set-up. The DAMS Lucas Oil machine responded positively to the changes in the second stint, appreciatively explained Crawford.
“We did plan ahead for this, actually, so we were ready to make a change in case this was happening, this certain scenario, and we did that, and it worked out perfectly, to be honest, so yeah, thanks for the team, obviously, we want to be there on the first run, but still, we managed to put it together at the end.”
A potential championship contender?
Presently ranking 17th in the championship driver standing after two difficult weekends, Crawford is eager to score his first point of the season.
“I have zero points at the moment, so it would be great to get some points on the board.”
Nonetheless, the American remained largely unconcerned with the current standings as it is only the beginning of the season. The championship lead, presently held by Invicta Racing’s Fornaroli, is realistically within reach, deemed Crawford.
“The two points from qualifying is great to take, but it’s super early in the championship, you know, one win can easily bounce you in the top three, so it’s not the biggest concern at the moment”
“Leo[Fornaroli] is still in touching distance. It’s only round, basically, kind of round two of the season, so not much, there’s still a long way to go in the year and lots of points on the table, but it would be good to get a podium on Sunday.”
