Jack Crawford has left the Red Bull junior team set-up and suggests he was pushed through the ranks too quickly, as he maps out his updated path towards Formula 1.

The American joined Red Bull in 2020 and completed one year in German and Italian Formula 4 before moving up to Formula 3 for two years. Promoted to Formula 2 this season, Crawford has one win and one pole position as well as four further podiums, but sits 11th in the championship with one round remaining.

He has now confirmed he won’t be with Red Bull in 2024, and in announcing his departure, the press release suggested the way Crawford was moved up rapidly and has never spent consecutive seasons with the same team was not beneficial to his development.

“Once he was moved early to F3, it became nearly impossible to slow his upward progress inside of the Red Bull junior program,” the release stated. “While the 2023 season has seen rapid acclimatization to the incredibly competitive F2 landscape that has included, to date, a race victory, a handful of podiums and a pole position, it could be argued that the debuts in both F3 and F2 each came one year too early.”

Quotes attributed to Crawford himself say he will now try and take a more patient approach to gaining experience, with a 2024 seat in F2 already agreed.

“We are thankful for the Red Bull funding for four years, and honestly, we could not have done much of it without their substantial support,” said Crawford. “We were wanting to make key decisions and we let them know mid-year. After that, they didn’t pick up my fifth and final year, so we are in control now. I truly appreciate everyone at Red Bull, especially Rocky (Guillaume Rocquelin). I really enjoyed the last two years with him at the factory.

“Everyone has a different path, but mine has been to be moved up fast and to a different team every year. In two years, I will be only 20 years old, so we are going to slow it down and work a more thoughtful plan. That is all I can say about our plans at this point in time. Again, I am grateful for Red Bull for four years of support.”