Shortly after winning one of the the most dramatic F2 races at the Circuit de Monaco, Aston Martin Aramco Young Driver Jak Crawford tried to collect his thoughts for a moment and explain what just happened.
Victory in Monaco hits different.
Nestled on the cerulean shores of the French Riviera, the Circuit de Monaco is a ferocious challenge for any driver: high speeds and ever-present barriers… fine margins. The stakes are high amid the opulent surroundings of the Principality and there was no shortage of drama on the Monaco Grand Prix undercard shortly before Lance and Fernando took to the track.
Aston Martin Aramco Young Driver Jak Crawford kept is cool and nose clean on Monaco's streets, putting himself in the right place at the right time with a roll of the dice in the shadow of the famed Casino de Monte-Carlo. Gambling on an opportunistic and perfectly timed pitstop, he emerged in the lead of the F2 Feature Race moments before a red flag brought the race to an early conclusion.
This is what Jak had to say immediately after tasting victory on the storied streets…
On winning in Monaco
"I can't believe it, honestly. This has been the craziest race of my life. When I woke up this morning, I didn't expect the race to go the way it did. Wow, what a day.
"It was the race of my dreams! Avoiding the crash at the start was just the first bit. Around the Safety Car and trying to get into the pits… Oh my God! It was the craziest thing ever. I'm so lucky, the pace was good too. It was an incredible day."
On the race start
"Qualifying didn't go great this weekend, so we were a bit down because we weren't able to maximise our full potential.
"When the race started, I was super lucky to avoid the Turn One crash. After that, I was in a decent position to fight for a podium and felt quite competitive."
I almost hit the wall. It was the craziest two laps ever and the luckiest day of my life.
On that pitstop
"I can't thank the team enough for giving me a good pitstop.
"I had seen the crash on the TV screens. I was entering the last sector, heading into Turn 18, right before the pit entry. I chose to slow down by around two or three seconds to see if I would be able to make a pit stop before a Safety Car or Virtual Safety Car. I was thinking it was going to be a Safety Car period, but it wasn't, so I just kept going and then the VSC period began.
"I told the team on the radio to be ready in the event of it becoming a full Safety Car because I was just going to risk it and pull in.
"The next lap, I did the exact same thing of slowing down right before the pit entry. The second I saw 'Safety Car' flashing on the board, I pulled in for a pitstop and barely made it. I almost hit the wall. It was the craziest two laps ever and the luckiest day of my life."
On the season so far
"This result is super important for my season. After a disappointing Qualifying, coming out of the weekend with 18 points is huge.
"We've had quite a rough start to the year, and we got incredibly lucky to get this result.
"We did really well in Barcelona last year, [winning the F2 feature race], so I'm looking forward to heading there next weekend (30 May-1 June)."
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