Jak Crawford’s P2 in the Feature Race at the F2 Saudi Arabian GP officially marked the start of his 2025 campaign. After qualifying on pole, MP Motorsport’s Richard Verschoor delivered a redemption drive—bouncing back from a lost Sprint Race win the day before—to deny the DAMS driver his first victory of the season.
During the post-Feature Race press conference attended by Pit Debrief, the American driver discussed the importance of experience at a demanding street circuit like Jeddah and the challenges posed by its high-speed nature.
Does experience make a difference at a circuit like Jeddah?
2025 marks the American driver’s third year in the series and his third visit to the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. Crawford’s experience on the high-speed track was evident in the pole lap he delivered. On Friday, Crawford’s pole position on Friday at the Saudi Arabian GP was DAMS’ first since 2023. When asked if experience played a role, Crawford attributed part of his success to being on the pace from the get-go. But, the American driver also emphasised that staying with the same team and building from what they achieved last year were key factors as well.
“Yeah obviously it matters a little bit coming to the track in free practice and being on the pace straight away. You know also, experience last year with with the same team for me helps a lot, I was fast last year qualifying P3 finishing both race in the top five and I was just able to build on that with the team.”
The DAMS driver acknowledged that experience does not always make a significant difference in qualifying, as he highlighted ART GP’s Victor Martins’ impressive pole position at the circuit during his rookie season. However, Crawford explained that the knowledge he gained from previous race stints at Jeddah made the difference.
“So I feel like that’s where a bit of experience helped me, but otherwise you know like Richard said you know I think Victor was on pole by six tenths in his rookie year when he came here, so I think from you know a qualifying one lap pace stuff it doesn’t make a difference but over a race stint and and having that knowledge definitely helps.”
Physical and mental challenges of Jeddah Corniche Circuit
Unlike F1, which races at night in Jeddah, the F2 sessions are scheduled during the day—exposing driver to much hotter conditions. When asked about the physical and mental challenges of the high-speed nature of the circuit, Crawford described the race as physically intense. Alongside other drivers, the American driver explained that the true intensity of the race had only hit him during the cool-down lap.
“Definitely a tough race, like Richard said, you don’t really feel it until basically on the cool down lap after the race. I mean we push so hard. I know me and probably other guys as well, we’re doing qualifying laps the whole race trying to get the best race time possible.”
“And yeah, you’re just in in such a zone and you’re kind of like I guess losing a bit of oxygen but you just keep on pushing and then all of a sudden you realise oh wait I haven’t like been focusing on any braking markers or anything, you’ve just been been kind of driving.”
Crawford said the heat was truly what hit him hardest after the race. He described the physical urge he had to desperately get out of the car following the end of the race.
“You kind of wake up for a bit and focus again and yeah it’s a tough race, and like I said, you don’t really feel it until the cool down lap. I was once I crossed the line I was absolutely boiling. That was the worst part of the race for me.”
“I just wanted to get the seatbelts off immediately and get out of the car but yeah really hot one today and definitely on one of the most physical tracks as well.”
