An update, I got this to work by editing contact form 7 files – which is not ideal!
Could I get a response from the devs on a future fix or option to custom enqueue jquery?
This represents a substantial performance improvement possibility
in includes/controller.php
//if ( 'header' === wpcf7_load_js() ) {
// $in_footer = false;
//}
wp_enqueue_script( 'contact-form-7',
wpcf7_plugin_url( 'includes/js/scripts.js' ),
array( 'jquery_2' ), WPCF7_VERSION, $in_footer );