Crawford ‘looking good for Qualifying’ as he sets sights on top five result

Ahead of the opening Qualifying session of the 2022 Formula 3 season, PREMA Racing’s Jak Crawford has set the goal of achieving a finishing position within the top five.

Crawford got his weekend in Sakhir off to a strong start, ending Friday morning’s practice session seventh on the timesheet, four-tenths of a second down on the fastest lap of the outing.

“It was a good session, it was very windy out there, so it was a bit different to last time (at pre-season testing),” Crawford said.

“(The goal) was just to save tyres for qualifying and the race and just use one set since we already done three days previous, so we had a lot of experience. We only used one set, we only did three or four push laps total. We already got up to speed nicely, so it was a good strategy, I think.

READ MORE: Alatalo not upping his expectations despite ‘positive’ pre-season test

“I didn’t put the full lap together, but we definitely had good potential, I had a purple sector in sector two, I think. So, it’s looking good for Qualifying I would say.

“The goal is pole, but I would be happy with top three or top five, just to be consistently up there. That should be my goal.”

The 2022 F3 campaign is Crawford’s second in the category, having moved to PREMA following a rookie season last year with Hitech Grand Prix.

The Bahrain International Circuit’s location means that drivers were forced to deal with a sandy track surface during practice – however, Crawford says that it was only a problem away from the racing line.

READ MORE: ‘I’m expected to have better results’ – Bearman on the pressure of joining ‘super successful’ PREMA Racing

“The sand didn’t seem to be a problem,” he said. “There were people ahead of us, but you could definitely feel the wind out there. When you drive off-line, you can see the sand as well. It is sandy, but on the line, it’s not so bad.

“The most useful thing was the wind direction. In the test we had wind direction, but it was coming from all ways. Now we have a strong wind coming from the north. It makes it difficult but to be honest, I like it a bit better. It should be the same for Qualifying this afternoon.”