Jak Crawford on his F1 ‘dream’ and pushing Aston Martin forward

AUSTIN, Texas — It take a lot for a Formula 1 team to be operational, let alone successful. It takes a pair of drivers willing to find the limits inside the race car, and then push beyond them. It takes a team of engineers to find every tenth of a second possible in the wind tunnel and on the testing track. It takes a management team to lead them, and an army of people both at the track and back at the factory pulling in the same direction.

And it takes a third driver waiting in the wings, ready to push those limits themselves at a moment’s notice.

Third drivers wear many hats for an F1 team: Part marketing representative, part team ambassador, part development engineer, and yes, part backup driver waiting to jump into the car immediately due to injury or illness.

Jak Crawford serves as the third driver for Aston Martin, backing up Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll on the F1 grid. The 2026 campaign is Crawford’s first in the role, following a very successful 2025 season on the F2 grid, where the American driver finished second in the Drivers’ Championship standings to Leonardo Fornaroli.

Ahead of the 2026 United States Grand Prix, SB Nation sat down with Crawford to talk about his journey to F1, his hopes for Aston Martin in 2026 and 2027, and what comes next for him.

Aston Martin confirmed Crawford as the team’s third driver in October of 2025, while he was locked in a tight title fight with Fornaroli. While Crawford ultimately fell short in that regard, it was still an impressive F2 campaign, as the young driver secured four victories, including one at the Feature Race at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Our conversation began with a discussion about how he has adapted to his new role, as Aston Martin’s third driver.

“It’s been good. I’ve been going to every race and, being very involved with the team and, simulator work and driving the car quite often. So, yeah, it’s been quite, quite enjoyable so far,” said Crawford on Friday in Austin at the Aston Martin hospitality space.

Crawford then walked me through what a typical race week looks like for him.

“[I’m] at the track most days, and I’d say it’s fairly straightforward. I attend all the engineering meetings and debriefs, listening to what Fernando and Lance had to say about the car and all that. And then otherwise just at the track and trying to get a good understanding of what’s going on with the car and in case I have to jump in and race, so always trying to learn as much as possible,” said Crawford.

Zooming out a bit, I asked Crawford about the highs and the lows of this season, serving as Aston Martin’s third driver.

“I think the best part of the season has been just being able to to drive and you know, prep practice sessions, test sessions, those are always my favorite,” began Crawford.

“I think the toughest part, obviously the team was struggling quite a bit in the midpoint of the season before we were waiting for a bigger upgrade, so that was quite tough and, I think not from me necessarily, but you know, everyone in the team, obviously not great for morale driving around at the back so I think everyone was quite excited then when we got new upgrades, and we’re definitely more competitive and fighting for good results.”

Born in North Carolina, Crawford began karting in the Houston area at just five years old. He quickly worked his way up through the karting ranks both in North America, where he won the Challenge of the Americas – Junior Rotax Series, and overseas. In his first international karting race, at just nine years old, Crawford finished second at the 2014 Rok Cup International Championship.

The single-seater ranks were next, with Crawford starting out in the NACAM Formula 4 series, working through the lower ranks until he reached F2 with Hitech, driving alongside current Red Bull driver Isack Hadjar in 2023. While he got off to a slow start, he broke through with a P2 in the Sprint Race in Australia, and secured his first F2 win with a victory in the Sprint Race at the Red Bull Ring.

He finished 13th in the F2 Drivers’ Championship in his first year, and improved to P5 in the standings during the 2024 campaign, a season that saw Crawford secure five podiums, including a win in the Feature Race in Barcelona.

I asked Crawford about his journey from karting in Houston to being on the cusp of Formula 1.

It has been an unexpected path, even to the driver himself.

“So much fun, to be honest,” started Crawford.

“I mean, I grew up racing karts here at five years old in Houston and never would have imagined ever being at this point.

“I didn’t even think about it getting to this point.”

But something that started as a hobby, and something fun to do on the weekends, has Crawford in the center of the motorsport world each week.

“I was just doing it as a hobby because I enjoyed it and it was a fun thing to do on the weekends. And it turned into this big thing.

“I got quite good at it and obviously progressed through the ranks, and really had a lot of fun doing it.”

Parallel to Crawford’s motorsport journey has been the rise of the event that brought us together, the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin. That race debuted around the time Crawford began karting, and as he rose through the single-seater ranks, the race rose in prominence on the F1 schedule, becoming an event that fans and drivers alike circle on the calendar each year.

That has given Crawford a unique perspective on the United States Grand Prix.

“I was at the first race here, I think in 2012. I was only seven years old. I don’t remember a whole lot, but I’ve been coming almost every year since probably 2018, 2019, and it’s been growing massive,” described Crawford.

“Even you know compared to last year, it’s grown a bunch, and I feel like the best thing about this track is obviously the fans and the atmosphere, which is just amazing,” continued the Aston Martin driver. “I mean the amount of fans you get here at the track is insane, and it’s only been been getting better.”

As for the track itself?

In his words, a lap around the Circuit of America can be described in one word.

“It’s pretty nuts,” said Crawford when I asked him about a lap at this track.

“t’s a really bumpy circuit, obviously has a lot of character to it as well, with a lot of changes in elevation and a lot of switchback corners, so it’s truly exciting. Honestly, I think it’s one of the few tracks of the year where a driver can make quite a big difference. Of course, on the street track, it’s quite normal tha, a driver makes a big difference,” added Crawford.

“On a permanent track it’s a little bit more difficult, but I’d say this is definitely one of the circuits where a driver has a lot of input in the results, so I think that’s quite cool, and it’s it’s a really tough track, to be honest, to get it right, which is even more exciting, I think, for the drivers.”

As our conversation wound down, I wanted to ask Crawford more about how he has helped push the team, and in particular the AMR26, forward this year. While Aston Martin began the year on the back foot, and has struggled at times with the 2026 challenger, a big upgrade at the Hungarian Grand Prix helped get the car in a better window.

I asked Crawford about that process, and what it meant to be part of the development of the AMR26 with Aston Martin.

“Yeah, it was quite, quite cool,” began Crawford. “You know, we developed it in the simulator, and I was pretty much the first person who drove it technically on the sim, so you know we do a lot of work ahead of time to obviously get that prepared and make a setup for that. Basically a new car and so yeah, it was quite nice.

“Then when we arrived at the next two races and two races after our upgrade we were able to score points and stuff that was, I think, quite cool.“

During Thursday’s media sessions both Stroll and Alonso expressed some optimism for the future at Aston Martin, so I asked Crawford if he shared in that optimism.

He certainly does.

“We always want to win and do as good as possible. We always want to do better, so we work really hard in the simulator and everyone works very hard to try and improve the car, so everyone’s excited, I think, for next year,” answered Crawford. “We were pretty happy with the kind of development we made through this year, so I think it gets people excited for next year.”

For what Aston Martin can do the rest of this season and into next year, maximizing the results is a good first step.

“I think for the rest of the season, just try and maximize the results from the team side,” said Crawford. “I think they can have a few more point-scoring opportunities. We’re not gonna obviously fight for wins or podiums or anything, but you know, end the year solid

“From my side, obviously I’m looking forward to FP1 next week and any other driving opportunities I may have, at the end of this year, so obviously I want to maximize those as much as possible.

“And you never know for next year.

“I think we’re always optimistic in this sport that you know you can arrive with a good car and you know then develop the car and have a good season.”

As for Crawford’s own future, as he noted Crawford has been confirmed for an FP1 session at the Mexico City Grand Prix next week — a session he is “happy to go back and do it again” with more experience he told me — but what about beyond that?

He’s hoping for a spot on the grid.

“Hopefully a Formula One driver, of course,” said Crawford on his future goals.

“I think that’s the goal, and my dream.”