Jak Crawford
Carlton Jakston "Jak" Crawford is an American racing driver who last competed in the 2025 FIA Formula 2 Championship for DAMS as part of the AMF1 Driver Development Programme. He currently serves as the reserve driver for Aston Martin in Formula One.
Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, Crawford began karting age six before moving to single-seaters in 2020, becoming that year's runner-up in ADAC Formula 4. Crawford spent two years in FIA Formula 3 in and, finishing seventh in the latter with Prema. He moved up to FIA Formula 2 and spent three years there from to, finishing runner-up in the latter with DAMS.
Crawford was previously a member of the Red Bull Junior Team from 2020 to 2023.
Career
Karting
Crawford was born in Charlotte, North Carolina on 2 May 2005, and started his karting career in 2011 after he moved to the Houston, Texas area. He competed in multiple championships, predominantly in North America, winning the Challenge of the Americas – Junior Rotax Series among others. In Crawford's first overseas karting race in 2014 at the Rok Cup International Championship, while only nine years old, he finished second. Other international karting competitions were mostly sporadic but generally successful. Crawford achieved more glory in the later part of his karting career, included a win during the 2016 Florida Winter Tour, and further triumphs in the 2017 SKUSA SuperNationals and the Challenge of the Americas.Formula 4
2018–2019
In 2018, Crawford made his car racing debut in the NACAM Formula 4 Championship, driving for Scuderia Martiga EG. He took the standings lead following three rounds after two wins and finishing all but two races on the podium. However, he went winless for the next two rounds, losing the lead back to title rival Manuel Sulaimán. Despite winning four of the final six races, Crawford finished runner-up to Sulaimán by 44 points.2020
Crawford raced in the German and Italian Formula 4 Championships in 2020 with Van Amersfoort Racing, however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic he would only compete part-time in the latter. In ADAC F4, Crawford took both poles for the opening weekend in Lausitzring, but lost both to teammate and Red Bull Junior Team member Jonny Edgar in the races. Following a trio of second places in the next two rounds, Crawford took his first win from pole position during the first race in Nürburgring despite late rainfall. He then locked out the podium in the following round at the Red Bull Ring, which included a win during the final race. A win in the second Lausitzring round slashed Edgar's points lead heading into the season finale. There, Crawford took the title lead by winning the first two races in Oschersleben, but lost the title by two points by finishing sixth in the final race, as to Edgar's second place. Nevertheless, Crawford finished runner-up in the standings, scoring five wins and twelve podiums throughout the season.In the Italian championship, Crawford did not compete in the opening Misano round, but raced in Imola took two podiums. He would take his first Italian F4 win in Austria, and secured another triumph in the second Imola round on a weekend where he locked out the podium. Despite missing two rounds, Crawford still placed sixth in the championship standings, with two wins and seven podiums.
Road to Indy
U.S. F2000
In April 2019, Crawford joined DEForce Racing to contest part of the 2019 season as he was not old enough to start the racing season. In July, he switched to Cape Motorsports to contest the final five rounds and ended the season seventh in the standings.Euroformula Open
In March 2021, it was announced Crawford would race with Motopark in the 2021 season alongside his FIA Formula 3 commitments. Crawford missed the first two races of the season at Algarve due to his age, but stunned during his first full round in Paul Ricard with two wins and a further second place. He took another double victory in Imola, and repeated this feat at the Red Bull Ring and the Barcelona finale. Despite missing two rounds that season, Crawford finished third in the standings, eleven points behind runner-up Louis Foster. Speaking about his campaign mid-season, Crawford stated that Euroformula had helped him "get up to speed" in Formula 3.Formula Regional
2022
In January 2022, Crawford partook in the Formula Regional Asian Championship with Prema ahead of their FIA Formula 3 campaign together. He took his first podium of the season in the opening at Yas Marina, holding off Isack Hadjar for second place. After scoring more points in the following two rounds at Dubai, he took another second place during the third Dubai round, and a third podium in the final round placed Crawford sixth in the overall standings with 113 points.2023
Crawford was set to partook in three rounds in the 2023 Formula Regional Middle East Championship with Hitech Grand Prix before his main 2023 campaign. He instead only competed in one round, taking a best finish of eighth place and placed 28th in the standings with four points.FIA Formula 3 Championship
2021
In October 2020 Crawford completed the first post-season test at Catalunya, running for Hitech GP. Later that month, the British outfit once again fielded Crawford in the second post-season test at Jerez and confirmed him for the 2021 season in January the following year. He had a solid start to his season, scoring two points finishes in the opening two rounds. In Austria during Race 2, Crawford moved up to second early on, but his race concluded mid-race after his engine shut off. The next day, Crawford had another promising race running in the top-five, but a failed overtake on Jack Doohan saw him break his front wing with three laps to go. He again failed to score in Budapest after qualifying down in 22nd. During Race 1 in Spa-Francorchamps, Crawford earned his breakthrough with a maiden podium during treacherous conditions. In Zandvoort, Crawford had a decent weekend by scoring points in all three races, including a fourth place in the first race. In Sochi, Crawford ran as high as third in Race 1, but struggled with tyre degradation and eventually slipped out of the points. However, he had a stronger race in Race 3, finishing in fifth place. Crawford finished the year thirteenth in the drivers' standings with 45 points, behind teammate Ayumu Iwasa but ahead of Roman Staněk.2022
In November, Crawford joined Prema Racing, which had taken fellow Red Bull junior Dennis Hauger to that year's title, for the post-season test. In January 2022, Crawford was confirmed with the Italian outfit for that year's championship. An engine issue confined Crawford to 20th in qualifying for the opening Bahrain round. After his sprint race was compromised by front wing damage, Crawford went on a charge on Sunday, making up thirteen places in the feature race to finish in seventh. Crawford qualified a personal best third in Imola, and took his first podium of the season the next day, inheriting two positions from a collision between Isack Hadjar and Caio Collet ahead on the last lap. In the feature race, Crawford rounded the weekend with another podium in second place, having passed teammate Oliver Bearman on the penultimate lap for the position. He repeated this feat in the Barcelona sprint race with another second place as he was unable to get through David Vidales for the victory. He finished sixth in the feature race, a result that moved him into title battle.After scoring more points in Silverstone, Crawford earned his big break in the Austrian sprint race, overtaking Caio Collet on lap 14 for the lead to secure his first F3 victory. His fortunes were reverse the next day however, as he was hit and tagged into a spin from Jonny Edgar behind during the closing laps. His poor luck continued in the Budapest sprint race, as his was tipped into a spin on the last lap by teammate Arthur Leclerc from fourth place, causing both to drop out of the points. He finished fifth in the feature race, losing a place to Zak O'Sullivan on the final lap. In qualifying for Spa-Francorchamps, Crawford spun out which confined him to last. Despite making up 32 positions in both races, he was forced to cope with his first non-scoring weekend of the campaign. He qualified third in Zandvoort, and finished ninth in the sprint race, after a near-miss on the opening lap. In the feature race, a lock-up from Crawford after a safety car restart caused him to lose positions; he recovered to sixth but was left at an outside chance for the title. Qualifying eighth in Monza, Crawford ended his season positively amidst battles; finishing seventh in the sprint before taking a third place rostrum on Sunday due to penalties.
Crawford finished the year seventh in the standings with one win, five podiums and 109 points.
FIA Formula 2 Championship
2023
In January 2023, it was announced that Crawford would be reuniting with Hitech for the 2023 Formula 2 Championship, partnering Red Bull junior Isack Hadjar. Crawford endured a difficult opening phase to the season, failing to score points in the first two rounds. Despite starting on reverse pole in Jeddah, he lacked pace in the sprint race and fell out of the points on the final lap. His season began to turn around in Melbourne, where he took his first podium in the sprint race after having challenged eventual winner Dennis Hauger on the opening lap. His feature race however, ended on lap 6 following contact with Jack Doohan that forced him into the wall. He finished on the podium again during the Baku sprint race after multiple frontrunners ahead crashed out during a late safety car restart, and finished ninth in the feature race to secure his first double points finish weekend. Another third place followed in the Monaco sprint, benefitting from teammate and race leader Hadjar’s mechanical issue. As in Baku, he finished ninth in the feature race. A potential fourth consecutive sprint podium slipped away in the Barcelona sprint when first-lap contact with Frederik Vesti broke his suspension and caused his retirement.In the Austria sprint race, Crawford started on reverse grid pole on slick tyres in changeable conditions; this proved to be the right gamble, as despite losing places on the opening lap, returned to the front on lap 6 which secured his first Formula 2 victory. Despite dropping several positions on the opening lap of the feature race, a late safety car played into Crawford's hands, pitting for new tyres which allowed him to move up and finish in eighth place. The following rounds proved more challenging, yielding only a single point, including a retirement in the Spa-Francorchamps feature race when he was taken out by Juan Manuel Correa while in the hunt for points.
After the summer break, Crawford took his maiden pole position at Zandvoort. He was eliminated in a heavy opening-lap collision with both Campos cars in the wet sprint, but escaped uninjured. On Sunday, Crawford led the opening few laps but was jumped in the pit stops by Clément Novalak due to a safety car. He then lost another place to Zane Maloney during the safety car restart, nevertheless he secured his first feature race podium with third place. He had a disappointing weekend in Monza despite qualifying seventh; a penalty for track limits dropped him out of the points-paying positions in the sprint, while he broke his front wing after contact with Kush Maini on lap 23, and was given a grid penalty for the incident. He ended his rookie campaign with a strong recovery drive in the Yas Marina feature race, gaining nine positions from 19th on an alternative strategy to finish tenth.
Crawford finished the season thirteenth in the drivers' championship with one win, one pole, five podiums and 57 points; he also finished two points ahead of teammate Hadjar.