{"id":233395,"date":"2025-10-23T03:16:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T03:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/233395\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T03:16:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T03:16:09","slug":"crawford-and-his-first-formula-one-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/233395\/","title":{"rendered":"Crawford and His First Formula One Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"

American Jak Crawford (pictured) is about to drive in his first official Formula One session. But just how ready is he to get behind the wheel of the AMR25, and what might his future hold beyond Free Practice at the Mexico City Grand Prix? The Houstonian has his say before his F1 weekend debut.<\/p>\n

\u2013Story by the Aston Martin F1 Team\u2013<\/p>\n

The Americas double-header concludes at high altitude as\u00a0Mexico City<\/a>\u00a0welcomes the F1 paddock from Austin.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a Grand Prix that mixes history and vibrancy. On and off the calendar for the past six decades, it\u2019s become a staple of the modern F1 schedule, bringing with it a pulsating, festival-like atmosphere.<\/p>\n

For our team this weekend, there\u2019s an element of looking to the future. Aston Martin Aramco Young Driver\u00a0Jak Crawford<\/a>\u00a0takes the latest step in his motorsport career as he embarks on\u00a0his first official F1 session<\/a>, driving in Free Practice One at Aut\u00f3dromo Hermanos Rodr\u00edguez.<\/p>\n

Here, he looks forward to that opportunity, reveals how he\u2019s prepared for it, and hints at what his 2026 could look like.<\/p>\n

How are you feeling about getting behind the wheel of the AMR25 this weekend?<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really excited. I did the\u00a0post-season Abu Dhabi test<\/a>\u00a0last year and I\u2019ve done some TPC (Testing of Previous Cars) sessions, but this will be a new experience with lots of other cars out on track over a short period of time, so dealing with traffic will be one of the aspects for me to be on top of.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure it will be a busy schedule as we work to dial in the car ahead of the rest of the weekend and I\u2019m looking forward to playing my part in that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jak<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve studied a lot of data and video footage from previous years, so I\u2019m ready to go.<\/p>\n

What have you been doing to prepare?<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been driving in the simulator at the AMR Technology Campus, clocking up the laps to refamiliarize myself with the circuit layout and the key areas of the track.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sim has given me a good opportunity to try a few things before getting in the car for real, and I\u2019ve studied a lot of data and video footage from previous years, so I\u2019m ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

It won\u2019t be the first time you\u2019ve driven at Aut\u00f3dromo Hermanos Rodr\u00edguez. What do you remember about the circuit?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last time I drove there was six years ago in the NACAM Formula 4 Championship. My first F4 race was there as well; the lap will be a bit quicker this time around!<\/p>\n

\u201cI love the track. I love the flow it has and how much you can use the kerbs to try different lines. I like the esses section in particular. I think that\u2019s really cool.<\/p>\n

\u201cDriving through the stadium is also great and one of the most iconic sections of racetrack in the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really low-speed and technical, and your tyres aren\u2019t happy because it\u2019s at the end of the lap. From an atmosphere point of view, it\u2019s one of the coolest experiences you can have, and I can\u2019t wait to take an F1 car through there. I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if you can hear the crowd on a cool down lap.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jak<\/p>\n

Have you set yourself any goals for the session?<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t got any specific targets other than the obvious ones of having a clean session, giving good feedback and trying to help the team as much as possible so they can build on what I\u2019ve said and have a positive weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mexico City Grand Prix is famed for being held at high altitude. What will the car feel like to drive in such conditions, and have you done anything specific to prepare physically?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thinner air at altitude means there\u2019s less aerodynamic load and downforce, so we\u2019ll run a high-downforce setup to compensate for that as much as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven then, it will still feel like driving a low-downforce configuration like we would at Monza, which is quite unique. Ultimately, though, it won\u2019t present too much of an extra challenge. I\u2019ve driven the AMR23 at Monza, so I know what a low-downforce setup on an F1 car feels like to drive.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd physically, you soon adjust. I\u2019m going to Mexico City early in the week to give my body time to adapt and I\u2019m at altitude quite often when I go on holiday because I like to go in the mountains and do winter sports, so I\u2019m used to it.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn your first day, you can feel you\u2019re missing some oxygen, but you acclimatise quickly. The lap isn\u2019t the most physical, either, so I don\u2019t think there\u2019ll be any issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

I want to keep learning and progressing with Aston Martin Aramco.<\/p>\n

The Formula 2 campaign resumes with a season-ending double-header, starting in Qatar, at the end of next month. Have you thought about that much lately?<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m taking things one step at a time. Right now, my focus is on Mexico this week and then I\u2019ll be into F2 preparations as we get closer to Qatar and Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight after Baku, I did some preparation work with the team for the final rounds, almost getting ready in advance, and gave my engineers an idea of what we\u2019d like to work on over the two-month gap. So, I already feel fairly well prepared, but right now my full focus is on this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

What are your plans for 2026? Can you share any details yet?<\/p>\n

\u201c2026? You\u2019re going to have to wait a little longer for any details. \u201cThere\u2019s been lots of discussion in the background. All I can say right now is that I really want to stay with the team and continue this fantastic journey we\u2019re on. I want to keep learning and progressing with Aston Martin Aramco.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"American Jak Crawford (pictured) is about to drive in his first official Formula One session. But just how…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":233396,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,578,576,577,82],"class_list":["post-233395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233395\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}