Jak Crawford produced a stunning recovery to claim a podium in the F2 Austrian Feature Race, rising from P14 to fourth on track, just to be promoted to third after a post-race disqualification.
Setup woes in qualifying and sprint race issues
Crawford arrived at the F2 Spielberg weekend with high hopes after a strong practice pace, but he admitted the team missed the mark when it mattered most. Speaking after the race, the American driver said, “It was not amazing to be honest, from a pace point of view. Practice was good, we were strong, and I thought we were going to be quite strong in qualifying, but we just got it wrong.”
At a track where margins are famously tight, a small error had a big consequence, “With the margins being so tight at this racetrack, it really hurt us a lot. It was unfortunate to be so close to being in that top 10, but we were down in 15th in the end, so it was not great.”
He added, “but we know where we went wrong with the setup. We have been quite on it in the last couple of rounds, and we really struggled here last year in qualifying.”
Then came fresh heartbreak in Saturday’s Sprint, where he never even took the start. The 20-year-old driver said, “We thought we had fixed it, but we missed some spots that came up with what we changed. Just slightly missed it, but going forward I’m not too worried.”
“The Sprint Race didn’t happen for me, it didn’t start, my alternator broke about 10 seconds after we started the car for the Formation Lap, so I didn’t even get to race.”
That left Crawford heading into Sunday’s Feature Race effectively blind on tyre life, unsure how the car would behave over a long run.
No data, no problem for Crawford
With no Sprint data to fall back on, Crawford went into the F2 Spielberg Feature Race improvising. Despite a cautious opening phase, he began to slice through the pack.
“That means we went in kind of blind into the Feature Race, especially with tyre management and car setup. But it was a great race, although it was definitely a slow burner. The first stint was good, I made up some positions, but I didn’t feel that I was very fast.”
Speaking on the undercut strategy, Crawford said, “I did an undercut to gain some track position in the pit stop, and then I think the pace was not even amazing during the race, but I was just able to kind of manage my tyres.”
While his raw pace still wasn’t perfect, his consistency shone and Crawford was able to “manage things” in the closing laps. He said, “I didn’t have great pace, I was able to manage things, so when some fighting started at the end, I had better tyres and better grip than the guys around me, and of course was able to finish fourth somehow.”
Adding with a smile, “I was able to pick them all off one by one, and then we ended up gaining 10 positions.”
His final result, third on the podium, came thanks to Dunne’s disqualification for a technical infringement, making a remarkable turnaround complete for the DAMS Lucas Oil squad.
F2 title race and Silverstone confidence
While championship leader Richard Verschoor stretched his advantage, Crawford insists the battle is far from over, “We definitely have the pace to compete the with guys at the front. Verschoor has a bit of a gap at the moment, but there is still a long way to go. One race win puts me up there in the fight, so it’s not too far.”
“I love Silverstone, it’s one of my favourite tracks. I won the Feature Race on the road there last year before getting a five-second penalty which dropped me down to third.”
With the confidence of a huge recovery behind him, Crawford now sets his sights on taking the fight back to Verschoor in the championship chase at Silverstone.
