DAMS Lucas Oil scored points in both races during Round 2 of the 2024 FIA Formula 2 season in an entertaining weekend in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Having qualified third with an excellent lap, Jak Crawford was shuffled up to second after the withdrawal of a competitor. Starting the reverse-grid Sprint Race from eighth, the Aston Martin Driver Development Programme member showed strong pace throughout, making some excellent overtaking moves to claim sixth, which became fifth following a post-race disqualification for another driver. Meanwhile, Juan Manuel Correa battled hard in the pack before being forced to retire with damage.

Saturday’s Feature Race was not short on drama, with Crawford holding second place at the start and Correa moving up six places to run in 10th. Pitting at the end of Lap 6, Crawford would remain in the hunt for a podium finish, while Correa inherited the race lead on the alternate strategy.

With the Safety Car coming out on Lap 15, the team opted not to pit the #8 car, believing the supersoft rubber wouldn’t last until the end of the 28-lap race. Nevertheless, on his old tyres, Correa kept pace excellently with the frontrunners, while just behind, Crawford was involved in a titanic battle for position. The 18-year-old would eventually come home fourth, after being beaten in a drag race to the finish, missing out on a podium place by just 0.031 seconds.

Having waited for another Safety Car intervention which never came, Correa made his mandatory stop on Lap 25, finally crossing the line in 14th.

Jak Crawford: “Overall it was a good weekend, qualifying was a big positive, we made a set-up change for the second run and it worked really well. In the Sprint Race, some contact at the first corner cost me a few positions, but we had great pace to fight back, making some really good overtakes along the way. Starting P2 today, it was disappointing to ultimately miss out on the podium. We lost ground in the pit stop phase and the pace wasn’t quite as good. The Safety Car made things interesting with the alternate strategy runners, it was a huge scrap for third at the end and we were unfortunate to miss out. However, 16 points from the weekend is still a good haul and we’ve got confidence to take into Australia.”

Qualifying: 3rd |  Sprint Race: 5th (+4 points)  |  Feature Race: 4th (+12 points)

Juan Manuel Correa: “A strange weekend in Jeddah, we had good speed but weren’t able to back it up with results. A bad last lap in qualifying meant we were well out of position on the grid for both races. We had the potential for top-five so that was frustrating. The Sprint Race was always going to be tough and today we had really positive pace, I was able to keep up with the frontrunners on old tyres, but unfortunately the strategy and Safety Car timings didn’t fall right for us and we couldn’t take advantage of our speed.”

Qualifying: 17th  |  Sprint Race: DNF  |  Feature Race: 14th

Charles Pic, Team Owner: “Jak had a great qualifying, we found a good set-up for the second run and it worked. Unfortunately for JM, he wasn’t able to get it right on the final lap, which was a shame as he had promising pace.

“Starting P8 for the Sprint Race, Jak was shuffled back at the start following a tag from behind, but was able to recover really well with excellent speed and some great overtaking moves. JM had a good launch but encountered two stalled cars in front of him, so was unlucky to lose positions. Trying to find clean air, he clipped the wall and had to retire.

“And then today was a dramatic race. On Jak’s side, to finish P4 from the front row was not what we were hoping for. He pitted early as we didn’t have the pace on the supersoft tyres, but the undercut isn’t very powerful in Jeddah so he dropped back. The field bunched up under the Safety Car and it was a crazy fight for the top-three and a dramatic last corner. Jak was unlucky not to take the podium, missing out in a drag race to the line. For JM, we chose the alternate strategy and it was working well until the Safety Car intervention. With 13 laps to go, we decided not to change tyres and hoped for another interruption later. Unfortunately it didn’t work out, JM had really strong pace and deserved much more.”

Image: Dutch Photo Agency