Whilst F2 is on its autumn break, I caught up with DAMS’ title contender, Jak Crawford to discuss his career and F1 ambitions.
Hailing from America, Crawford has firmly established himself as a rising star as he currently just 19 points off the title lead with two rounds of the season left and is currently a member of Aston Martin’s Young Driver Programme.
The 20-year-old American however was reflective on his progress so far from his grassroots beginnings to missing out on the ADAC F4 title and how his experiences have helped make him the driver he is today, as he aims to graduate into F1 amidst the sport’s growing presence in the US.
Who inspired you to become a racing driver?
Crawford: “I wouldn’t say anyone in particular inspired me to become a racing driver. I got into it through my dad, he brought me a go-kart and just became a family thing at the weekend and it kind of evolved into this big thing until I came good enough.
“So I guess in a way my dad got me into the sport.”
Having enjoyed a successful karting career with three titles and six further top-three championship finishes, what did you find to be the toughest aspect of karting even when winning titles?
Crawford: “The toughest aspect of karting is that you can show up, everyone can race, it’s so competitive and tricky to win a karting race so when I look back, it almost looks like F2 and F1 easy to win but in karting, it always come down to the final lap and the smallest margins.”
2018-19 saw you make the step up to single-seater where you finished NACAM F4 season as vice-champion, before finishing seventh in US F2000. Looking back now, how did you find the transition from karting to single-seater racing and what has benefitted you to this day?
Crawford: “I liked the transition. I remember it very well as had some great coaching and great people teaching me when I first got in the cars and I think just looking back on the basics, just learning how to properly hit the brake pedal and that feels like the biggest thing that I learned and I still use those techniques to this day.”
2020 saw you come across to Europe in Italian F4 and ADAC F4 where you took seven wins in total, plus vice-champion in the latter series. What was it like to make that move across to Europe and adapt to the challenge of European circuits during the pandemic whilst mounting a title challenge?
Crawford: “Yeah it was a big change moving to Europe and yeah one that I wanted to make, a dream that I wanted to pursue was to race in Europe and try to get to Formula One.
“It was really tough at first being away from my family, especially during the pandemic when I wasn’t able to see them so you know I was away from my family at 18 years-old for the first time really and yeah it was a big change in my life. I had to mature and learn and really became a racing driver.”
Two seasons in F3 followed where you experienced mixed results in your rookie season with one podium before taking win in an improved second season. Looking back now, how important was that F3 experience – especially in 2021 when you also competed in EuroFormula Open and finished third with strong consistency?
Crawford: “My F3 experience was very good. I feel like I was in my learning years. I don’t feel like I was a complete driver and felt like I still had a long way to go even when I left F3.
“But I feel like it really helped me become a great driver and now in F2, I was able to learn so much from my mistakes and everything that went wrong helped me become a more complete driver by the time I got to the end.”
2023 saw you step up to F2 with a solid rookie season at Hitech GP before two successful seasons at DAMS to find yourself in title contention going into the final two rounds of the season. As you approach the end of your third season in the category, how do you reflect on your time in F2 with six victories?
Crawford: “My time in F2 has been great. I feel like I have been performing well since my first year and feel like I’ve gotten better as the years go on. I just need to finetune my driving and I am really happy and grateful to be able to race in F2 in such a competitive series and it’s so tricky to win and to get six victories is a huge achievement
Looking ahead to the final two rounds of the season with a 19-point deficit to Leonardo Fornaroli, how important do you feel that your previous title battle experience will be after you fell two points short in 2020 ADAC F4?
Crawford: “In 2020, I was fighting for the German F4 championship and I had a big comeback at the end of the year and just fell short in the last race of the year by two points.
“That was when I really started to find myself as a driver and became very strong in the second half of the season and I came from a big points deficit and as you know in almost the same way, I am coming from a big points deficit to Leonardo and I really feel like I thrive in these areas and hopefully it doesn’t go the same way and I don’t fall two points short and am instead victorious.”
Within F1, you were part of Red Bull’s Junior Team before joining Aston Martin’s Driver Development Programme. How much has it meant to have support from both teams across the last five seasons and participate in Formula E tests with Andretti as their reserve driver?
Crawford: “It was huge support from Red Bull which got me into this side of the world. I think without them, I wouldn’t be able to race and have this dream of racing in Formula One.
“And as well with my time with Aston Martin I have learned so much I think just being part of an academy has taught me so much and I have been able to run in the sim to compare against other drivers and I feel like that has really helped me over recent years with Aston Martin and I’ve been able to learn more of the professional side and Formula One to become a better driver in trying to redefine my driving in my feedback.
“And driving in Formula E as well as a reserve driver, that was a very important step I felt to just finetune my driving more, and I am learning more which is always positive.”
Away from racing, you are involved in a charity called Fast Friends which aims to enable disadvantaged children to connect with Maths and Science through racing. What inspired you to set up the charity and how special has it been to help disadvantaged children connect with motorsport over the years?
Crawford: “That was a great opportunity I had when I was younger and my mum helped me set up a charity and had a two-seater go-kart and I was able to drive children around in my go-kart and was a super cool experience.
“But unfortunately I can’t do it so much any more as I am not home as much and it’s difficult to organise but those were special moments especially when I was so young and gave me a great understanding of the world at a young age and I was happy to do that.”
Throughout your karting days, you were nicknamed Jetpack so how did the nickname come about despite no longer using the nickname now that you’re older?
Crawford: “Yeah funny story. At my first-ever karting track, all the kids had nicknames and at that karting track – my local karting track gave me the nickname Jetpack and it carried on and eventually people were still using it at the end of my karting career when I was 12/13.
“Eventually I decided not to use it any more especially when I came over to Europe but it was a great thing to have as a kid and gave me bit of an identity on the track.”
Finally, what are your ambitions for the future especially with F1’s increased presence in America and Cadillac joining the grid next season?
Crawford: “Yeah of course my ambitions are to be in Formula One and regardless of my nationality I feel like at this point I have earned it and I deserve it, so I feel like my goal is to work hard and get to Formula One and then work my way to becoming a race winner and eventually world champion.”
Massive thank you to Jak for his participation and to Aston Martin for their assistance in facilitating the interview.
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