A dramatic qualifying session in Zandvoort saw Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Jack Crawford take his first pole position in FIA Formula 2, with three red flags denying other drivers the opportunity to set a better lap time. Ahead of the sprint race, the top three qualifiers – Crawford, Dennis Hauger, and Frederik Vesti – spoke to selected media about the stop-start session.

By Nida Anis

Crawford’s best lap time came twenty minutes into the thirty-minute qualifying session, with Hauger, Vesti, Jack Doohan, and Oliver Bearman behind. The American Red Bull Junior Team driver’s second attempt would prove to be the last real chance for anyone to beat him – thanks to a trio of red flags triggered by Jehan Daruvala, Juan Manuel Correa, and Clément Novalak.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Crawford, however. After setting his pole position lap and putting on a new set of soft tyres, the Hitech Pulse-Eight driver made contact with Novalak in the pits – damaging Crawford’s front wing and forcing him to pit again for repairs. Despite this, the American’s time stood as the stoppages prevented drivers from setting a faster lap time.

Crawford: ‘I’ve just sort of clicked with this place’

Prior to this weekend’s round at Zandvoort, Crawford’s best qualifying result in FIA Formula 2 was seventh. The American driver was “very happy” after securing his first pole position in what he described as his “best qualifying of the year by far”.

“We definitely got lucky, but the pace was there, even if we were to complete the second run, I still think we would have been up there,” he said. “So of course, I’m over the moon right now. It hasn’t been the best season and we’ve put in a lot of prep for this event and it finally worked out.”

The American driver added, “I’ve just sort of clicked with this place. I was quick in free practice this morning, but I didn’t get to show it. We did so much prep days, I did so many laps in the sim, and just everything came together.”

Crawford’s incident in the pit lane with Novalak almost jeopardised his entire qualifying session. “We wanted to be the first ones to jump to get a clean warm up, which was so important for this track,” he said. “I was full-speed into the pit limiter on basically shiny tyres and someone came out right in front of me and just T-boned them and broke my front wing.

“To be honest, I was so mad at the time and luckily I was able to change my wing and there was no damage. But anyways, we didn’t even get to set a lap after that,” he continued, referring to the three red flags that prevented drivers from improving.

Hauger: Red flag cutoff ‘was a bit annoying’

Hauger made improvements on Crawford’s lap time on multiple occasions but was unable to record a faster flying lap due to the red flags. The MP Motorsport and Red Bull Junior Team driver set a flying lap 0.040 seconds faster than Crawford’s best, but it was ultimately rendered null and void as the second red flag of the session was thrown just before he reached the line.

“Quite a few red flags, I think it was three in the end and I was the first car out of the pit lane most of the times and was feeling like I was on a flyer every time to be honest,” he said. “So to get that cutoff a few hundred metres away from the finish line was a bit annoying.

“But in the end, I’m happy with P2. From where we’ve been in qualifying this season so far, I’m taking that with me into the weekend and I think the pace was there to be up there fighting for pole. But I mean it’s a front row start for Sunday and there’s plenty of stuff we can do there.”

Hauger will be starting on the front row at MP Motorsport’s home event and aims to put in a strong performance across the weekend’s two races. “I really enjoy the track,” he added. “The team is obviously doing a good job around here, it’s their home event and the motivation is high. So I don’t know, I really enjoy it here.

“I’ve been driving around tight, technical tracks since I was a kid back in Norway, so it’s a fun track to drive around for a qualifying lap.”

Vesti: ‘It’s really easy to make a mistake’ in Zandvoort

After a dismal weekend in Spa-Francorchamps saw him lose the championship lead to Théo Pourchaire, Vesti is hoping to fight back this weekend and regain the top spot in the standings. Despite securing third place in qualifying, the Prema driver and Mercedes junior believed he had more pace to show.

“The second run is always quicker in F2, the fuel is burning off and all drivers are getting more confident,” he said. “So of course, it would have been quicker, no doubt for everyone, but happy with the result for sure, especially considering we’re the second-to-last team in the pit lane.

“What we saw today was crazy, but it was to be expected. Everyone is pushing really hard, it’s really easy to make a mistake, and when you’re one of the last teams to exit, you just have no chance to even start or finish the lap before someone crashes,” he added. “That compromised a lot, I think, our second run and potentially our result, but honestly, P3 is really strong.”

Speaking about his goals for Sunday’s feature race, the Mercedes junior added, “It will be to win the race – but that’s easier said than done,” he continued. “Getting a good start is important. This race in Zandvoort is a bit different, because we can’t pit under the safety car, which is a bit of part of the strategy normally in Formula 2.

“So it’s different here and requires a different strategy, but let’s see how it plays out.

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency / Red Bull Content Pool