Putting it all together on Sunday: Jak Crawford’s Spielberg Debrief

1 July 2025

It was a Feature Race to remember as Jak Crawford went from 14th on the grid to fourth on the road, before a post-race disqualification put the DAMS Lucas Oil driver on the podium in Spielberg.

After a tough start to the weekend, it was a strong end to the three days of running at the Red Bull Ring, and speaking in the paddock afterwards, Crawford reflected on it all...

SETUP MISTAKES IN QUALIFYING AND SPRINT RACE PROBLEMS

“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.

“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.

“But we know where we went wrong with the setup. We have been quite on it at the last couple of rounds and we really struggled here last year in Qualifying.

Crawford charged through the field to finish on the podium in the Spielberg Feature Race

“We thought we had fixed it but we missed some spots that came up with what we changed. Just slightly missed it, but going forwards I'm not too worried.

“Then 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.”

LEARNING ON THE FLY

“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.

“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.

“Even though 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.

“I was able to pick them all of one by one and then we ended up gaining 10 positions.”

Crawford is looking forward to going to Silverstone where he performed well in 2024

TITLE RACE AND SILVERSTONE HOPES

“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.

"I love the track, it's a bit of a home race for me because I live close to there, it's the closest thing I have to a home race. One of my favourite tracks, I love it and we did really well there last year.”