16-year old set to begin 2022 with hectic 15-race Formula Regional Asian Championship
HOUSTON (21 January 2022) – American Formula 1 hopeful Jak Crawford is set for his second full season in the competitive FIA Formula 3 championship in 2022, joining the premier PREMA Racing team for the series that competes on seven Grand Prix weekends.
Crawford, who will turn 17 on May 2, returns to the category as part of his program for the Red Bull Junior team, following in the footsteps of current Driver World Champion and Red Bull driver Max Verstappen – a former Junior Team driver.
Crawford’s 2021 F3 campaign saw the Texas native soak in a full season of new tracks as he took on the unique challenge that the three-race weekend formats presented. Having a season of racing as part of the Formula 1 events under his belt, the promising results that Crawford delivered in the second half of the year could provide the foundation for a breakout season in 2022.
Any rust from the off-season layoff will quickly be shaken off, with Crawford making his debut in the Formula Regional Asian Championship, with a hectic 15-race schedule over the course of five-consecutive weekends – all in the United Arab Emirates. The championship will give Crawford a strong start to the 2022 season as he looks to build on the opportunity to race with the powerhouse PREMA squad.
Crawford will drive for Abu Dabhi Racing PREMA when the series begins this Friday with a three-race weekend at the Yas Marina Circuit, home of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Action then shifts to the Dubai Autodrome, which hosts races on three-straight weekends. The championship returns to Yas Marina Circuit for the concluding Round 5 on Feb. 17-20. The series will carry FIA Super License points for the top finishers. Each of the three-race weekends will have the top-10 finishers from Race 1 reversed for Race 2.
“I’m very excited to be joining PREMA for a second season of FIA F3 as well as contesting the Formula Regional Asian Championship with them,” Crawford said. “I am very much looking forward to building on what I learned last year in my rookie season, and hoping to emulate the success that other drivers have had with the team in the past. FIA F3 will be the main focus for me this year and I am eager to get the season underway.”
The FIA F3 campaign begins March 17-19 in Sakhir. The season continues April 21-23 at Imola; May 19-21 at Barcelona; June 30-July 2 at Silverstone; July 7-9 at Spelberg, Austria’s Red Bull Ring; July 28-30 at Budapest; August 25-27 at Spa Francorchamps; Sept. 1-3 at Zandvoort; and closes at Monza on Sept., 8-10.
Each weekend will hold two races for the F3 competitors. Crawford ran the full Formula 3 season in 2021. The youngest driver in the series, he placed second in the opening race of the Spa Francorchamps weekend, and also scored points in all three races at Zandvoort. He kept pushing at every opportunity, even ending the year with a pass on the final lap of the season to take fifth at Russia’s Sochi circuit.
Missing the opening two races of the Euroformula Open campaign, Crawford celebrated his 16th birthday with a sixth-place finish to wrap up the Portimao weekend. Although missing an additional two rounds (six races) due to FIA F3 schedule conflicts, he finished third in the season championship, within striking distance of second. Crawford won eight of 16 races in the No. 52 Team Motopark Dallara, winning two of the three races in four of his five full weekends. He won the pole in four out of five qualifying attempts, and scored 12 fastest race laps.
