Yahoo Autos Doohan ‘more ready than ever’ for Alpine race seat
Alpine reserve driver Jack Doohan says he feels “more ready than ever” if he gets the chance to step up into a race seat with the team in 2025.
Doohan has been linked with the vacancy created by Esteban Ocon’s departure from Alpine at the end of this season, with Pierre Gasly’s future also unconfirmed. The Australian has been carrying out numerous private tests with previous Alpine cars but also made his first FP1 appearance of the season in a rain-hit practice session in Canada, and he believes he has been well prepared for a potential promotion if it is forthcoming.
“It’s obviously a great opportunity, it’s my dream to be in Formula 1 and I want to be on the grid next year,” Doohan told SpeedCity Broadcasting. “If the opportunity presents itself here then that would be amazing. I’ve been building and growing with this team now for the last three years, so it would be a great transition.
“I went testing a lot in the 2021 machinery and also 2022, so I feel more ready than ever, I felt extremely comfortably coming into [the FP1 run] as well, so it’ll be a natural transition. But I’ll keep my head down, I’m here as reserve driver.
“I’m taking it day-by-day and if everything aligns then great, but I’ll just keep working and make sure that I maximize my job on track when I get the opportunity – hopefully more laps than [Canada]! – and off the track whether that’s in the sim or with the [race team].”
Doohan says he doesn’t know how the rest of his FP1 outings might look while there is uncertainty over the race seats moving forward.
“Really we’re not even looking too far into the future. There’s so much to be decided and so much happening as well know, so we’re really taking it, honestly, day-by-day, and session-by-session. I think with things happening sooner rather than later that will all fall into place in due course.”
Doohan also stated his FP1 outing in Canada was not a reaction to the controversy in Monaco, where Ocon was criticized for trying to overtake Gasly on the opening lap and causing a collision between the two Alpine cars.
