American hopeful Jak Crawfordhas been reaching out to as many Formula 1 teams as possible in an effort to secure a spot on the grid in 2026 – potentially with Cadillac.
Previously a long-time Red Bull junior,Crawford transitioned to the Aston Martinacademy for 2024, offering him simulator practice and multiple test sessions in F1 vehicles.
Crawford had been looking forward to making his F1 debut with Aston Martin in 2026, but withFernando Alonso and Lance StrollCurrently under contract and with the situation highly unlikely to change, the DAMS Formula 2 driver is openly exploring alternative opportunities.
Crawford informed zaia news that his future with Aston Martin is currently "uncertain."
It largely depends on my performance in Formula 2 this year," he said. "If I manage to win the championship, it would be fantastic for my career. It could open up numerous opportunities, either by securing a spot on the grid or possibly serving as a reserve driver again next year in Formula 1.
We are attempting to locate any available space on the grid, whether it's with Cadillac or Aston Martin or other teams.
The new Cadillac Formula 1 team,through its team principal Graeme Lowdon, has openly expressed its desire to have an American driver in one of its vehicles, although this is not a requirement. At present, he is third in the Formula 2 championship with DAMS, making Crawford the most likely prospect from the junior formulas.
There have been discussions, I've been communicating, but it's moving very slowly right now," said Crawford, who was born in North Carolina and later relocated to Texas. "From my perspective, I just need to perform well in Formula 2.
Involving rivalry from champions of the grand prix seriesSergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas, Crawford acknowledged that persuading Cadillac to give him a chance is a difficult task.
There's nothing I can do to keep up," he added. "In fact, the only thing I can focus on is performing well in F2. Beyond that, there's not much else I can do.
So, how has Crawford performed in F1's junior series? This is his third season at this level, having finished 13th in 2023 and fifth in 2024.
The final outcome earned him 20 superlicence points, indicating that a single top-five placement would be sufficient for him to qualify for a 2026 F1 seat, although he has set his sights higher.
Crawford believed that expanding his collaboration with the DAMS team offered him the highest possibility of achieving success. "We already had a strong car last year, but we were lacking some minor aspects at every race. That's why I chose to remain with DAMS because I felt we understood what those small elements were that needed adjustment," he said.
Last year, I already felt I was performing at a solid level, but it wasn't very steady. We just couldn't maintain it consistently.
Getting tyres up to the right temperature is extremely challenging. We reviewed all the data and made improvements for the next race, but we obviously couldn't repeat the same race. So now it feels like we're essentially redoing all the races this season, and we have the chance to correct the mistakes.
Thus far, the situation has largely been favorable, even with some challenges in securing positions. In the first eight out of 14 rounds, Crawford has accumulated almost as many points as he did throughout his entire 2024 season, although Spa-Francorchamps concluded a run of 10 race finishes within the top six (plus one race he didn't participate in), which featured three wins.
In Belgium, the 20-year-old secured a spot in 14th place and became part of a first-lap crash during the sprint race when Richard Verschoor, seemingly unaware of two cars on his left, forced both Crawford and Luke Browning into the gravel.
The DAMS driver expressed his frustration, saying he had a crooked steering wheel, everything was twisted on the right side, and he was also losing 50 points of downforce.
Crawford struggled to maintain speed during the wet feature race, finishing in 17th place after falling 37 seconds behind over 19 laps – including a five-second loss from going through gravel and grass at Les Fagnes.
We attempted to replicate our approach from Silverstone, which was highly effective for us," he stated. "It didn't function as intended in that race, so we faced significant difficulties.
Don't let this average weekend affect your view of Crawford's overall performance. Previously, he mentioned the Silverstone feature race, where he took the lead from third place at the start and secured a near-unbroken victory, resisting challenges from Alex Dunne – theMcLarenJunior that Crawford highlights as the driver who has made the strongest impression on him. Dunne was once more dominant at Spa-Francorchamps in rainy conditions before being penalized for a starting procedure violation, resulting in the loss of the victory.
Nevertheless, Crawford is not too concerned about the effect of his Spa disappointment: "It's just one weekend. You aim to avoid some poor weekends, but we're still fairly close in the championship, so I don't think it's the end of the world."
There are still five more weekends remaining, so there's a lot left to play for. Anything is possible, particularly in this series. Naturally, it's disappointing not to have secured some good points this weekend, but there's no need to worry. I'm confident that I can perform better.
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