Four years at Red Bull
The American Jack Crawford he is preparing for his second season in Formula 2 after his debut in the category last year at the wheel of the Hitech team. For this year, the 18 year old will take to the track with DAMS, but for the first time since 2019 without the support of Red Bull. In 2023, in fact, the driver from Charlotte left the Junior Team of the Milton Keynes company, putting an end to a career four years starting from participation in the US F2000 National championship up to the aforementioned F2.
Doctor Marko's pressure
He too, like all the other young people of the Anglo-Austrian team, testified to RACER the tough character of the Junior Team Manager, Helmut Marko, very direct with the pilots to push them to obtain positive results in a short time. A man that Crawford himself defined “brutally honest”although the American also recognized a change in the way of working within the academy.
What has changed?
“There are also a lot of good learning opportunities – has explained – Guillaume Roquelin, who is now head of the junior team, arrived in mid-2022. Since then I have had the impression that the program had changed radically. Era more educational. I learned more, got more feedback on everything and had more pre-event preparation from Red Bull. So I really liked this aspect too.”
The strange sensations
The fact remains that Crawford, winner last year in Austria and with four other podiums to his credit (in addition to winning a pole position), now begins a new experience without the support of Red Bull: “It's a rather strange feeling – He admitted – I feel like I've been doing this job for a long time, but then you look at my age and compared to most of the guys I'm probably one of the youngest still in F2. So it's very strange to see, because I feel like I've had a long career in single-seaters, but if you look at some drivers in their early twenties, they have a lot more experience in single-seaters than me. I feel like I'm in a good position. It's a bit strange to say that I've been at Red Bull for four years, that I was dropped and that I'm only 18. It's a little strange to say, but I think it's one good opportunity for myself“.
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