Jack Doohan said he plans to “achieve great things” in Formula 1 amid ongoing speculation about his future in the sport. This is the Australian racer’s debut season as an F1 driver, but before it even began there were plenty of rumours suggesting Alpine were preparing a change.
It began with claims that he was only initially given a six-race contract, after being chosen to succeed Esteban Ocon. And doubts over his longevity were strengthened when Franco Colapinto was signed as a reserve having impressed in a nine-race stint for Williams in 2024.
Doohan has yet to score a point so far this year, but only missed out in Bahrain last weekend because of the unfortunate timing of the safety car. And it seems Alpine bosses have been satisfied with what they have seen so far.
It is understood that the team is set to wait until at least the summer break before they reassess their driver options. And Doohan has taken a defiant stance against those who have doubted his chances of sticking around.
“I’ve tried not to think about it,” the 22-year-old said. “We know internally what my contract situation is, and the rest, I always knew was going to be fluctuating, for sure.
“All I can focus on is what me and the team are here to do and for me to get up to speed as quickly as possible. It has been good that we’ve shown some good moments over the past four rounds and the raw pace is there.
“There are a lot of strong things to take forward and now it is just about putting all those things together and for sure, we will be able to achieve great things.”
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Alpine chiefs are said to be pleased that Doohan has struck up a strong partnership with team leader Pierre Gasly. That, and the fact the Aussie has shown increasing promise with each race weekend, has led to the decision to delay any line-up changes for now.
Bahrain was undoubtedly his best performance of the season. He very nearly reached Q3 for the first time in his F1 career in qualifying, missing out by just 0.017 seconds, but P11 was the highest starting position of his short time in the sport to date.
Doohan’s future has also been helped by the momentum that was behind Colapinto having dissipated somewhat. Sky Sports pit lane reporter Ted Kravitz referenced that as he assessed the current state of the Alpine team.
Kravitz said of the situation: “That’s going well for Enstone so far, well done to them. Doohan, you’re right, they seem to be a bit happier with him. Some of the heat of the fashion of Colapinto seems to have gone out, for various reasons.”
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