Will DAMS make a major step up in the 2025 Formula 2 season?
- Vyas Ponnuri
- Jun 26
- 8 min read
Updated: Jul 7
Written by Vyas Ponnuri
DAMS are certainly a team on the up in Formula 2 in 2025. Having scored no points in the first three races, the duo of Jak Crawford and Kush Maini amassed 73 of their 94 points in the previous triple header.
The DAMS outfit was also the only team to record more than one victory in the triple header from Imola to Monaco. Crawford was also the only multiple winner across the three races, winning the Imola sprint before emerging on top in a chaotic Monaco feature race.
The American also tallied more points than anyone bar Arvid Lindblad in the triple header, elevating himself comfortably into the top four ahead of the Austrian round in 2025.
While Crawford’s lowest finish across the three weekends was sixth in the Imola feature, Maini has discovered his mojo after a difficult start to 2025. The Indian looked quick in qualifying around Imola, before his crash at Tamburello unravelled what had been a breakthrough weekend in his season.
He wouldn’t have to wait too long, though. Starting from the reverse grid pole in Monaco, Maini controlled the sprint to take his first win in 2025, sparking off an emotional radio message. “Our season starts now,” he responded, rejuvenated and ready to kick-start his season.
Maini proved his Monaco pace was no flash in the pan, qualifying third in Barcelona, taking his best start of 2025 for the feature race. Despite falling down the order in the sprint, the Indian bounced back from a difficult start to score seventh in the feature race.
Teammate Crawford, on the other hand, managed to finish fourth in both races, albeit in contrasting fashion. After failing to fend off a charging Richard Verschoor, Alex Dunne and Rafael Villagómez on fresher tyres, the DAMS man hung on to his position in the sprint.
His feature race, though, proved quite the opposite. Running on the converse strategy to the front runners, Crawford pitted for the faster soft tyres on lap 23. Making a flurry of moves as he picked off hard tyre runners at will, the American climbed up to fourth, until a late safety car halted his booming climb up the order.
Coincidentally, it was in Barcelona when DAMS’ 2024 season finally broke through, when Crawford took a feature race win, while former teammate Juan Manuel Correa drove a clean pair of races to finish in the points in the sprint, and take an emotional podium in the feature race.
So then, what has helped DAMS surge up the order after an inconsistent start to the season?
For starters, their pre-season test hadn’t quite gone to plan, with neither Crawford nor Maini troubling the top ten on days one or two. The major allegations of a testing infraction also rocked the team on day two, as both Crawford and Maini had their fastest lap times deleted. Additionally, DAMS were fined €10,000 per car for allegedly drilling air pressure holes in the diffuser to collect data on the airflow into the sensor pipes.
As a result, the duo were also demoted ten places each in qualifying for the opening weekend in Melbourne, while a further restriction was imposed on the team for the in-season Bahrain test, restricting them, as well as Trident and Rodin Motorsport, to only two days of on-track running.
The penalties and lack of running certainly cost the team in the opening weekends of the year, as neither driver managed to recover from poor qualifying sessions and take home points.
But you can never discount two experienced drivers from being in the hunt in any race weekend. And Crawford certainly utilised his two years of F2 experience to bounce back in Jeddah.
Having shown pace to finish eighth in the sole practice session, Crawford pulled out a stellar lap in the dying moments of qualifying, taking pole from underneath Victor Martins’ nose by a slender margin of 0.022 seconds.
On Sunday, he was no match for Verschoor on the alternate strategy, but Crawford utilised his years of experience at the venue to finish second in the searing heat, taking his first podium of the season.
Then came Imola, when both drivers looked on for big results in qualifying. Maini’s crash into Tamburello cost him his fastest lap, consigning him to 13th on the grid, and promoting Crawford up one spot on the road.
Starting second for the Saturday sprint, Crawford once again utilised his years of experience, nailing the start to take the lead from Ritomo Miyata’s ART. With Imola known to be notoriously difficult to overtake at, and drivers suffering from tyre wear and dirty air all race, the American drove a measured race, focusing on extending his lead and keeping Lindblad’s Campos at bay all the way, to take win.
“Yeah, it's great to start the European season on a high,” Crawford said after his Imola sprint win. “I think I didn't really score a lot of points until Barcelona last year, and closer to the midpoint of the season.”
“So it's great to get some points on the board early, and it's obviously great to be able to carry this momentum already from Jeddah into Imola, and then hopefully, of course, into Monaco and Barcelona,” Crawford responded, looking forward to the series of races to follow.
Carry it on, he did. Once again, utilising his street smarts and quick thinking, Crawford hung on to fifth in the sprint, despite running with a damaged DAMS car. He gained one free position after Lindblad, who barged into the side of Crawford’s DAMS machine on lap 1, received a ten-second penalty for his actions and dropped down to eighth.
But it was in the following day’s feature race when two split-second decisions reaped a surprise race win from seventh on the grid. While drivers went hard into turn 1 off the red lights, and seven of them caught in the pandemonium, Crawford quickly pulled back from any overtaking into the corner. Backing off from any move on Lindblad benefitted him in the end, as the DAMS man emerged out of the melee in fourth.
The second critical moment towards the end of the race saw Crawford make an extremely late and opportunistic call to jump into the pits after the safety car was deployed, following Dino Beganovic’s crash into Casino Square.
Having watched it on the big screen, Crawford backing off immediately during the virtual safety car allowed him to gain critical seconds, as the transition to a safety car allowed him to jump into the pits and take a free pit stop.
With the front three of Lindblad, Leonardo Fornaroli and Sebastián Montoya forced to run to a slower delta time under a full safety car period, Crawford emerged in the lead with a comfortable margin, locking in his win just moments later, as the red flag was called out for the second time in the race to repair the barriers.
Despite gaining only half points in an incident riddled race, a rather shocked Crawford recollected his smart moves when speaking to the media post-race, and the fact that victory hadn’t sunk in yet. It was all a case of being in the right place at the right time and making sensible calls based on their years of experience all weekend.
Crawford is also an excellent judge of his tyre wear, a facet that helped him net fourth in the following weekend’s pair of races in Barcelona. In the past, he has run long on the alternate strategy, often netting lower points finishes from far below on the grid.
In Barcelona, however, it was all about making the most of his tyres until the end of the race. Utilising the early grip from his hard tyres, the DAMS man jumped ahead of Luke Browning’s Hitech TGR car around the outside of turn 4. Keeping it pinned, he gained the race lead into turn 5 on the second lap, holding on until the safety car period.
It was a safety car period that changed the complexion of the race, as drivers outside the top ten rolled the dice and pitted for fresher soft tyres. With only six laps to go, it paid off, as the drivers utilised the greater traction from their tyres to make moves into Barcelona’s long corners.
Crawford, despite sliding down the order, managed to hold on to fourth by only a second to Martins in the sprint. The following day, he pulled off the opposite drive, leading the runners on the alternate strategy. With teammate Maini taking the soft tyres for 14 laps, the team too had enough evidence to back Crawford in his charge up the order, swapping to softs onto lap 23 in the 37-lap race.
It was all about doing the overtaking this time around, and Crawford executed move after move smartly, picking off contenders ahead at will, until he closed up to Verschoor and Montoya ahead, as they were battling for second.
An ill-timed safety car cost Crawford a shot at a potential podium, although fourth wasn’t a result to frown upon. The 12 points from his strong recovery drive catapulted the Aston Martin junior into the top four in the standings, only 14 points off championship leader Lindblad.
Maini, on the other side of the garage, has been making steady strides across the triple header. Despite missing out on points in Imola, the Indian also utilised his two years of F2 experience to fend off a hungry Gabriele Minì to win the sprint.
The following day, he avoided the melee at the start to finish sixth, despite nearly getting collected by Joshua Dürksen’s AIX Racing at Rascasse corner early on.
In Spain, it was all about maximising tyre life for Maini. Taking his soft tyres for much longer, the Indian overcut drivers around him, before taking advantage of the Miyata-Browning incident to gain a couple of positions.
Late moves on Dürksen and Roman Staněk’s Invicta, both on much older hard tyres, netted him seventh on the road. The late safety car meant Martins behind wouldn’t be able to surpass the DAMS on his softer tyres, bringing home a confident seventh-position finish to boot.
Moving closer to the DAMS base at Le Mans has helped Maini’s case, as he has been able to integrate with the team more strongly, while Crawford has been an able yardstick for Maini to aim at and measure his pace.
The team now come to Austria, with plenty of momentum to boot, and hungry for a championship challenge. Crawford comes into the venue with happy memories, having run almost 35 laps on his hard tyres during the feature race. Maini, on the other hand, tested for Alpine at the venue in 2024, as he certainly has fond memories of the Styrian hills.
With the next series of races in Austria, Silverstone, Hungary and Spa rewarding drivers who manage their tyres, both Crawford and Maini will be counting on their experience to emerge triumphant in the upcoming weekends.
It is not too late for Crawford or Maini to mount a championship charge just yet, with eight rounds to go in the 14-round 2025 F2 season. 2024 F2 champion Gabriel Bortoleto kicked off his championship run with a victory in Austria, elevating himself from well outside the top five to eventually take the title in Abu Dhabi.
Both drivers will certainly keep this, and the motor racing mantra of, “Never say never,” as they look to deliver glory for DAMS in 2025.
Comments