‘It felt very fast’ – Crawford pleased with Lusail Sprint comeback as he targets more points on Sunday

29 November 2025

Jak Crawford was pleased to be one of the few drivers that could fight their way through the field in the Lusail Sprint, as he mounted an impressive comeback to eighth in Saturday’s 23-lap race.

Friday’s pole position shootout saw the DAMS Lucas Oil driver end up down in P15, leaving him with a tough fight to score points in both races.

However, a good start in Saturday’s Sprint put Crawford up to 11th early on, and he was able to take advantage of other drivers’ mistakes, and Roman Stanek pitting for the Softs late on, to finish eighth.

SPRINT RACE: Verschoor in control for Lusail Sprint Race win

Speaking in the paddock afterwards, Crawford – one of the five drivers currently going for the title – reflected on his evening behind the wheel in Lusail.

“It was a good start,” said Crawford. “I had a good first lap, I was already up to P11, and I was able to keep out of trouble and end up with one point.

“I had a good position going into the first two corners, which meant that I found some good grip and was able to gain some positions.”

Crawford was right on the back of Martins in the early stages of the race

Crawford also revelled that in a race where several drivers were forced to manage their Hard tyres, meaning they could not put pressure on the cars ahead. However, he was able to push his rivals in front for much of the evening.

“It felt very fast,” he continued. “I felt like I was one of the only ones attempting to overtake in the pack. I was attacking Victor a bit, Martinius at some points, so I felt quite good, so will be interesting tomorrow with strategy.”

So with this pace, where did it go wrong for Crawford and DAMS in Qualifying? When asked, he revealed where he and the French team went awry.

“Qualifying was very specific,” he said. “We were quick on the first run and the second run it didn’t come together. It wasn’t about the setup, we just missed the window of the tyres.

“So we were able to keep to our normal race car without changing everything and it worked fine.”

Crawford reflected on where it went wrong for him and DAMS in Qualifying

But this means that Crawford is facing another fightback through the field in Sunday’s Feature, and to make matters worse, Championship leader Leonardo Fornaroli starts from pole.

The American driver says he would love to score a few more points before the end of the weekend, but knows he will have to take a few more risks to make that happen.

“Obviously I have to take a bit more risk at the starts and put myself in a good position,” he added. “Of course it’s difficult to pass, it would be better if we were starting at the front.

“But at the end of the day, all the races are the same. You try to drive as fast as you can, you try to overtake and defend the best you can.”