![]() We had our own sort of goal set in mind when we went to talk to Helmut about what we wanted for 2022. “And an in-person one happened in my move to Prema. And I was like, ‘All right,’ and then basically, I went to Hitech, and I was driving for them next year! Helmut calls me and he says, ‘I want you to test in F3 in two weeks with Hitech. I think we’re a little over halfway into the season, and I’m in a hotel in Munich, Germany. “An example would be in 2020, where I was in the middle of my F4 season. “Me and my dad and my manager, we have all these talks about what we want to do, the ideal situation, blah, blah, blah. But I remember very specifically one was over the phone, and one was in person. And that was a bit different each year, because of COVID a couple years and whatnot. “We always went to go see Helmut and that was when we would discuss our racing plans. ![]() “Helmut is very straightforward with what he wants and basically we’d always know around the Austrian Grand Prix,” Crawford says. ![]() A lack of experience, trust in those running a junior program and a desire to impress all add up to being largely accepting of whatever path they’re told to take. Once that commitment has been made, however, the expectations ramp up quickly, and how much of a say a driver has on the direction of their career appears to greatly reduce. So I think straight away, Helmut had made up his mind since he arrived on track on the first day, so he texted me. “Prior to that I had one day on the Red Bull sim as a part of the whole experience, one day of sim at Van Amersfoort in preparation, and then one day of testing. He remembers thinking his father “was crazy for not signing straight away,” but while there was an urgency to the situation, it’s one that he says shows belief in the drivers being supported. To me it was very, very short, and very to the point.”Ĭrawford can recall the day he was offered a contract by Marko at the age of 14, following just one day of testing at the Red Bull Ring. Sometimes it can be too brutally honest, where it can be unfair at times, if you want to say, but it’s not so bad. And then you sit there and he just walks up, and then he says, ‘So…’ in a very deep voice! Then he asks ‘What happened?’ And his conversations are very short, very straight to the point. “He’s very busy, so you end up waiting on him. But definitely the biggest thing is, the last thing you want is to have a bad weekend and receiving a phone call from Helmut to say to come meet him. “So sometimes that can play a factor in how he sees things. And sometimes, if you’re not directly in the F2 paddock, knowing what’s going on, it can be difficult to tell with regards to team performance or driver performance and stuff like that. “He puts a lot of faith in his drivers, but he also expects a lot. “I think the hardest things are obviously the pressure and expectation that is set on you,” Crawford says. But that’s not to say the Austrian is a scary character to deal with – just a demanding one. It is a bit weird to say that, but I do think it’s a good opportunity for myself, relieved of pressure.”įrom the outside, the pressure appears to be the toughest aspect of being a Red Bull Junior, and Crawford admits that’s the case, as drivers try and stay on the right side of Marko, who runs the Red Bull Junior program. It’s a bit weird saying I’ve been in Red Bull for four years, and I’ve been dropped and I’m only 18. And you look at some of the guys there in their lower 20s, and they have a lot more experience than me in single-seaters. “So it’s very weird to look at, because I feel like I’ve had a long career in single-seaters so far. “It’s quite a weird feeling – I feel like I’ve been doing this a long time, but then you look at my age, compared to most of the guys, I’m probably one of the youngest still in F2,” Crawford tells RACER. A new opportunity awaits in 2024 as he will tackle his sophomore F2 season with a new team in DAMS, and will join another F1 driver program, but it’s left Crawford with a Helmut Marko-shaped badge of honor at a young age. At just 18 years old, as a race-winner in Formula 2 and with two years of Formula 3 under his belt, America’s Jak Crawford appears well on his way towards a future in Formula 1.īut after four years being helped on that journey by Red Bull and its young driver program, he left the junior team at the end of last season.
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