Reportedly, Jack Doohan does not need to worry about his Formula 1 seat at Alpine for the time being. According to various sources, the young Australian is said to be safe with the French racing team until the summer break. After a number of mediocre performances in the opening races of the season, he showed promise last weekend in Bahrain – if it weren’t for an unfortunately timed pit stop.
The 22-year-old Doohan, who is experiencing his debut season in the premier class this year, was already under heavy pressure before he had driven a meter. The arrival of promising Argentine talent Franco Colapinto – brought in with the help of top advisor Flavio Briatore – fueled rumors of an early driver change. There was even whispering that Doohan would only have a contract until the Grand Prix of Miami, with performance clauses that gave Alpine the opportunity to replace him prematurely.
However, that scenario seems to be off the table for now. The German Auto Motor und Sport reports that Doohan has secured his seat until the summer break. This would mean that he does not need to worry about his place until the GP of Hungary – beginning of August. If Alpine still wants to put Colapinto in the car, that would have to happen during the race weekend in Zandvoort.
Team’s Compliments
Jack Doohan had a difficult start to the season, with heavy crashes in both Australia and Japan. So far, he has not been able to outperform his teammate Pierre Gasly. The Frenchman scored the first points of the year for Alpine with a seventh place in Bahrain. Nevertheless, the team was satisfied with both drivers after this fourth showdown in Sakhir. After all, Doohan qualified in eleventh place and showed in the opening phase of the race that he has a lot of pace.
“He (Doohan) did a good job this weekend,” team boss Oliver Oakes responded to the media in Bahrain. “It was tough in Japan, but in Bahrain we really saw progress. In Q2, he missed the top ten by only half a tenth – that was a shame. But in the race, it became clear that he can really compete with the midfield,” said Oakes, referring to teams like Haas and Aston Martin.
