Performing at his best: Jak Crawford on his 2024 season so far

Jak Crawford believes he is driving the best he ever has in 2024 but admits inconsistencies in performance have meant he and DAMS Lucas Oil have not always realised their potential.
The American driver is in his second season of Formula 2 and made a bright start to the year by finishing in P2 at the Sakhir Sprint, the opening race of the campaign.
Since then, he has won the Barcelona Feature Race and added three more podium finishes to his tally at Silverstone, Spa, and at the most recent round in Baku.
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But speaking prior to Round 12 at the Baku City Circuit getting underway, Crawford reflected on his season so far.
“It’s gone by pretty fast,” said Crawford of the 2024 campaign. “It’s not been bad so far, I think we’ve shown great speed at times and been really fast. We’ve had our moments but we have also had some not good moments and been a bit inconsistent at times.
“But overall, I am happy with the points we have scored this year, I feel like we deserve more but at the end of the day, a few inconsistencies have stopped us from getting more.”
Crawford has 116 points and is currently fifth in the Drivers’ Championship, trailing leader Gabriel Bortoleto by 53.5 points. Had it not been for the issues he and DAMS have faced, he suspects that gap would be smaller.
“It all starts in Qualifying, so when that doesn’t go right, the races are a lot trickier,” said Crawford. “We’ve been good over a long run, struggling a bit more over one lap, nailing the new car with the setup, also getting the tyres in the right window which is quite tricky.
“We have also had a few issues as well in Qualifying which has stopped us. So, it’s been a mix of things but at the moment just trying to find some consistency, it has been really up and down.”
While the performance might not always be where he wants, Crawford is incredibly happy working with DAMS. He joined the French outfit this year and is pleased with the working environment in which he finds himself.
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He lauded the team for continuing to find ways to extract the most from their weekends and by doing that, he feels they have helped drive at the best level of his career.
“I feel like I’ve performed quite well, definitely the best I have ever driven before,” he said. “I had a couple of mistakes early on in the season but I learned from those really quick.
“I was able to hash all those out and I feel like I’ve been quite on it, ever since about Round 3 or 4. So, I feel like I have been driving at my best, but obviously, there is a lot more factors that go into it than just the driving.”
Asked where he believes he has got stronger as a driver, Crawford replied: “I feel like I have been able to be a bit more precise and it’s felt a bit easier to get up to speed, so I am able to do things a lot faster.
“Getting up to speed quicker allows me to really push the limits in Qualifying and have a really good feeling with the car and be there straight away, so I think those are the big differences.
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“I have also opened up my understanding of the car, the setup aspect of it and the tyres as well. So, I’ve been learning more about car setup, tyre management and I think that has helped me on the race runs.”
As we head into the final two rounds of the campaign, Crawford’s pre-season target of finishing somewhere in the top three of the Drivers’ Championship is still in play.
He is 19 points behind third-placed Zane Maloney and even though he is fifth, he still feels as those he is “matching” his expectations given his strong performances. He just hopes to find a level of consistency within the car in Lusail and Yas Marina to end the campaign on a high.
“I think a good way to the end of the year would be if I was to quality consistently,” he said. “I would say in the top 10, top seven, starting from there always gives you a chance.
“The key is to be consistent across the final rounds at some very difficult circuits, so if we were to be consistent across those rounds I’ll be very satisfied at the end of the year.
“I am sure with that I will also score more points, then the goal would be to finish top three, top four in the Championship which is still my end goal.”