A difficult start for Jack Doohan in F1 with Alpine

Jack Doohan is part of the Alpine Young Driver Academy as of this season. Engaged in the F2 championship with Virtuosi Racing, he currently occupies 6th place in the championship. As part of the teams’ need to have rookies drive several times during the season, Alpine offered him Estéban Ocon’s car to make his debut, featuring the number 82.

Unfortunately for Doohan, a mechanical problem with the engine cut short his track time. He finished far behind Fernando Alonso but is satisfied with it: It was a great experience to drive in FP1 today, so thank you to the team for this opportunity. I was very well prepared for it, at Enstone with the engineers and in the simulator. Driving 13 laps here was extraordinary and I will remember it for the rest of my life.

While Alonso was able to complete 26 laps and set the fastest time in 1:20.899, Doohan could only manage 13 laps and clocked a time 3.8 seconds slower. He explains the troubles he had: “We had an issue with the engine. The team asked me to return to the garage earlier, but it’s better that it happened today for the team rather than during the race.”

Alan Permane, Sporting Director of the Alpine team, spoke about Doohan’s performance: “He did a very good job today for his debut in F1. It’s not an easy circuit and he gave it his all. He provided us with good feedback and afterwards, he was also able to observe in the garage.”

Doohan should continue his F2 adventure next year with Virtuosi Racing.