Jak Crawford secured F2 victory in the most dramatic of fashions at the Monaco GP. He triumphed in a chaotic feature race that was punctuated by two red flags and a multi-car pile-up that eliminated seven drivers at the opening corner.
The DAMS Lucas Oil driver, who started the race seemingly out of contention, found himself in the perfect position when strategic pit timing during a late safety car period vaulted him from fourth to first with just minutes remaining on the clock.
“The craziest race of my life”
Still struggling to comprehend his breakthrough victory, Crawford was visibly emotional after stepping out of his car. “I mean it’s been the craziest race of my life,” he said. “I’ve been honestly so lucky today to avoid the crash at turn one. It’s obviously coming at the right time for the safety car and get it to the right.”
“I mean when I woke up this morning it was not what I had imagined. The race being so, yeah, I mean I can’t thank the team enough just for giving me a good pit stop and even we were quite competitive just to be close up there fighting for the podium anyways so well it was what a day honestly.”
The race began in chaotic fashion when pole-sitter Alex Dunne and Victor Martins came together at Sainte Devote, triggering a devastating chain reaction that saw Gabriele Minì, Richard Verschoor, Max Esterson, Ritomo Miyata and Pepe Marti all retire immediately. The incident brought out the first red flag and led to a near-hour delay.
After the restart, Leonardo Fornaroli appeared to be the man to beat, leading from Sebastián Montoya and Arvid Lindblad. Crawford had dropped to fourth but remained within striking distance of the podium battle.
Awareness under pressure
However, it was Crawford’s tactical awareness during the race’s decisive moments that proved crucial. When Dino Beganovic crashed at Casino Square with 15 minutes remaining, Crawford demonstrated remarkable race craft by anticipating the safety car deployment.
“Yeah, so I saw when we were still green. I’d seen the crash on TV, and I was entering the last sector, so I literally in turn 18 right before the pit entry, I’d slow down like two three seconds to see if I could go in before the safety car or VSC.”
“I was thinking it was going to be a safety car, and then it didn’t go so I just kept going and literally as I just passed, I put VSC, and then I did the same thing the next time. I saw the crash I was like well you know this could be a safety car I told the team on the radio be ready in case the safety car I’m just going to pull in, and I did the exact same thing slowed down right before the pit entry and I saw a safety car flashing on the board I pulled right in and barely made it into the pits and yeah oh my gosh it was I mean the craziest two laps ever.”
Crawford’s decision to pit immediately when the safety car was deployed proved to be race-winning, as he emerged ahead of the field whilst the timing caught out his rivals.
The frustration did not get the best of Crawford
When asked by Pit Debrief if there came a point that he wished the F2 Monaco GP feature race would end, he simply said, “So I’m happy.”
“It was the perfect time to stop the race for me actually, you know straight when I got in the lead. So yeah, that’s when I wanted to race myself. Basically, I was happy, you know with the red flag. So, not completely.”
Championship shakeup
The victory represents a significant breakthrough for both Crawford and the DAMS team, who have endured a difficult start to the 2025 season. The American now sits fifth in the drivers’ championship and has accumulated over 30 points for the weekend, providing crucial momentum heading into the Barcelona round.
“Yes, [It’s] super important, especially since you know qualifying didn’t go great this weekend so to come out with a lot of points you know more than 30 points on the weekend is huge and as well going to a track we did really well at last year in Barcelona so you know I’m very happy that this turned out well and looking forward to Barcelona next week.”
Reflecting on his recent form and championship aspirations, Crawford explained, “Great to have this momentum as well.”
“I’ve said before, you know we were super unlucky not to come away with zero points in the first two rounds, and then you know scoring 20 points and in Jeddah scoring around 18/19 points in Imola. And then here scoring more than 30 points.”
“This is what we need to fight for a championship and, hopefully, I can keep this up into Barcelona. It’s a place we were really last year having a double podium in the future is for the team so.”
Perfect weekend for DAMS
The result also caps off a perfect weekend for DAMS, with Crawford’s teammate Kush Maini having won the sprint race on Saturday. “After qualifying we were you know, a bit down because you know we didn’t maximise our full potential, and obviously Kush [Maini] starting on pole yesterday [Sprint] and me getting the win today, it’s huge for the team as well.“
“Especially since we had quite a rough start to the year, so to get this result even though we got super lucky it’s just it’s huge for the team.”
Preparations for the final leg of the European triple header
With the demanding triple header schedule taking its toll, Crawford outlined his preparation routine for the upcoming Barcelona round.
“We always do sim prep as late as possible, so for each of them we did two days. Let’s say Monday – Tuesday and then fly to Wednesday that’s normally the plan, so I have to fly out tonight at 4 p.m. Go back to Le Mans, do some sim prep for two days and then fly out to Barcelona.”
“It’s quite a lot. We flew back already Sunday night [From Imola] in the last straight to the airport from the track, and then you know especially Monaco’s a day up so it was quite packed um you know we went straight from the sim to the airport uh to come here so it’s quite busy in these times, but we always like to do the prep.”
Crawford’s victory serves as a testament to the unpredictable nature of Monaco, where strategic thinking and split-second decision-making can prove just as important as raw pace. For the American, it represents the perfect platform to launch a championship challenge as the season reaches its midway point, with Barcelona offering another opportunity to build on this momentum at a circuit where DAMS has previously enjoyed success.
