Rising US star dropped by Red Bull offered F1 lifeline by rival team – report

After his exit from the Red Bull Junior Team, American prospect Jak Crawford is now reportedly switching to Aston Martin.

A member of the Red Bull programme since 2020, Crawford made the step up from Formula 3 to F3 last year, a pivotal move across the board for the Red Bull junior with the threat of a mass overhaul of the members looming.

Crawford impressed, the 18-year-old scoring a Sprint race win in Austria, home soil for Red Bull, plus four further podium results. That, though, wasn’t enough to hold onto his place in the Red Bull Junior Team for 2024.

Jak Crawford heading for Aston Martin?

All is not lost though for Crawford, far from it, as he is set to contest a second F2 season in 2024, switching from Hitech to DAMS, while according to RACER, he will do so as a member of the Aston Martin academy.

And Crawford is certainly pumped for the opportunity, claiming he has never been as excited for a racing year to come as he is for the 2024 campaign.

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“I’m really, really excited,” he confirmed.

“I’ve never been more excited for a year of racing, that’s for sure.

“It’s definitely going to be busy as well. With DAMS, doing lots of prep, traveling to France, a lot to do work with them. And as well with the F1 team doing lots of sim work for them as well, which will be good experience. I’m hopefully getting into an F1 car at some point, which will also be very good experience.

“I can say I’m very much looking forward to the year. My priority is of course F2. It’s a very important year for myself and in my second year. With the new car, I feel like the team and I have a very good opportunity to perform well. And I’m super excited for this year.”

Crawford’s haul of 57 points was enough for P13 in the standings in his rookie F2 season, but this time around, in the new generation of cars to align them better with modern F1 machinery, Crawford has the title in his sights.

“I think it’s definitely possible to fight for the championship this year,” he declared. “That is my goal and it’s also one that the F1 team has set out for me.

“It’s not like I’m under a lot of pressure from them to do that, it’s obviously just a goal, but it’s a goal for myself as well. So we’re on the same page.”

The 2024 F2 campaign gets underway on the same weekend as Formula 1 with a trip to the Bahrain International Circuit, the sprint race to be held on March 1 and the feature race March 2.

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