SPIELBERG, Austria (11 July 2022) – American Formula 1 hopeful Jak Crawford scored his first victory in the FIA Formula 3 Championship in Saturday’s race at Red Bull Ring. The double-header event was staged in conjunction with the Austrian Grand Prix as Red Bull once again played host to Formula 1 at the high-speed circuit set in the Styrian alps.
The 17-year-old Red Bull Junior driver from Texas stood beneath the Stars and Stripes on the top step of the victory podium after he triumphed for PREMA Powerteam in Round 5 of the championship.
“First win, and that gives me a confidence boost and gets the monkey off my back,” Crawford said. “It was a really good race with moving forward 3 spots.”
Crawford qualified 10th after a red flag ended the session two minutes early, robbing him of a potential top-three position.
However, that put him third on the inverted grid for Saturday’s 21-lap Sprint race. After losing a spot on the start, he made an inside pass of Franco Colapinto to take second on the ninth lap, prior to a safety car. Following the restart, he challenged Caio Collet for the lead. After running side-by-side through three corners, Crawford took the lead with a pass to the outside in a left-hand turn. He led the rest of the way, holding off a last-lap attempt by Collet.
“It was a long time for that one, but we got it,” Crawford said following the race. “I made a good move on the safety car restart, and I took advantage of all the restarts to gain positions. It was very stressful the last five laps. It was crazy, because I knew how powerful the DRS was at Red Bull Ring. I almost broke the DRS, but I missed by one-tenth of a second. I knew they would be coming fast, but I was fast enough that I was able to stay ahead.”
Unfortunately, Crawford had disappointment in Sunday’s Feature race, being taken out while attempting to improve his position with only three laps remaining.
The 25-lap race started in a downpour. Crawford started 10th but moved up to eighth on the rolling start. Despite the treacherous conditions, the race had only one safety car. The event restarted with three laps remaining, with eighth-place Crawford diving to the inside to take seventh, and was in position to gain additional positions. However, there was a collision behind him, which sent a car spinning into him and knocking him off. Crawford managed to continue to the finish, placing 22nd.
“We were very unlucky today,” Crawford said. “I was really quick in the wet, and made up two positions on the start. After that, it was very difficult to pass. I was aggressive on the safety car restart and passed one guy on the outside of Turn 1 and was going to pass another, but got rammed from behind. That was unavoidable for me. It’s unfortunate, because the guy who started 10th on the restart behind me ended up fifth. That incident cost me at least 10 points.”
Fourth in the standings at the beginning of the Feature – 10 points behind the leader – the unfortunate incident has the Texan fifth in the championship but now 28 points in arrears.
“Basically, it was an unlucky weekend because we lost a lot of points in the Feature race. Instead of being 18 points behind I am now 28 points back, which is a big blow to the championship.”
Round 6 of the nine-event championship will be held at Budapest on July 29-30.
“I didn’t have the best results last year at Budapest in F3, but I did win the pole in Euroformula Open,” Crawford said. “Now, I feel confident for the rest of the season.”
