Home F1 Doohan talks of securing F1 drive, shootout, challenges & more

Doohan talks of securing F1 drive, shootout, challenges & more

11/09/2024

Jack Doohan goes in-depth about how his F1 drive came about, the challenges, shootout with Mick Schumacher and more.

Having taken a big decision to not race in 2024 and just do reserve duties for Alpine, Doohan had scary moments of a F1 seat slipping from his hands. He had huge competition from big names like Carlos Sainz, who became free agent for 2025.

But when Esteban Ocon decided to leave Alpine, it opened up a seat for him to push for. He had the likes of Sainz and even Schumacher to fight through. And he did so. While the Spaniard decided to join Williams, the German lost out to the Australian in the end.

It was a surreal moment in a shootout but Doohan had to do the job as a professional. The testing programme on the sidelines helped him gain experience and gel with the team and the car, but until the pen is put to the paper, nothing is certain in F1.

He admits that there is a challenge considering where Alpine is at the moment, but he is relishing the chance. He is already working this year to help the team be in a better position. He had a good relation with Bruno Famin, and has one with Oliver Oakes too.

He raced for Hitech GP when Oakes was his boss and he thinks it will help to gel well, also with teammate Pierre Gasly. The presence of MotoGP legend and his father Mick too helped him to remain on ground in this period before he got his F1 gig.

F1 drive, how, when it happened –

Doohan: “Yes, I think it’s sinking now, especially that it’s out to the wide world and that it’s actually sort of in motion. So it took a while, even once I signed, it’s been quite a few weeks since then, before the announcement. So for it to be out there and to be actually now starting to involve myself further into what is going to be my car next year and the direction we’re going in, it’s a great feeling. Regarding the moment, I was coming back from, to be honest, a quite mediocre dinner in a small little restaurant in Spa on the Monday night.

“Before my testing the following day, I got a call on the way home back to the hotel. My father was next to me, my performance engineer was behind me. I got the news that I’ll be racing, next year I’ll be the driver. Obviously, I hadn’t signed at that point until a couple of days later. So I was super happy, but it means nothing until the pen is put on the paper. But that was the first moment that I knew that it was happening. For me, I was just overjoyed to be having that phone call.”

Ever had doubts taking a year off –

Doohan: “Now I think there’s more realization of what potentially couldn’t have been. But my mindset never, I never let my mind get to that point where I won’t have this opportunity. Maybe if that, was a really real scenario and quite highly a possibility. I felt if I ever got to that point that I was already defeated. I can’t be in the headspace that this can’t happen. I was living it, breathing it and believing it. From the moment I woke up to the moment that I went to sleep. And I think every almost interview that I’ve done this year started with a risky, taking a year out, the potential downside that has to it. But myself, Alpine, I trusted the process and I’m very grateful to be now sitting in this position.

“It’s been up and down since then (2022). It’s been moments of feeling so close, but also so far away. As a reserve driver, you’re a hiccup from being in the car, but you’re also so far at the same time. So although I felt close in 2022, I also felt in a strong position this year, albeit I wasn’t racing, so I didn’t have that side to be apt to fight for. But every opportunity that I got to try and show what I could do, I was making sure I was maximising that. So I did feel I was more in a solid position. I had much richer experience in Formula 1 machinery, much more relationships built inside this team, and they knew me as a person, on track, off track, and in my personal life, much more better than they did in 2022. So I felt like they knew exactly what they were getting.”

Shootout with Mick Schumacher, chances –

Doohan: “I think, yeah, to answer your question, it was strange. For me, I kept it, business. I didn’t think of it in any other way that, at the end of the day, I’m just going to hop into the car and drive as fast as I can. It doesn’t matter who’s next to me. It doesn’t mean I’m going to be any different outside the car. But when I hop in and I have that mindset to be as fast as I can. And at the end of the day, whatever, the outcome was of that, I think, I positioned myself to make sure that I was first in line to get this seat, let’s say, regardless of who was next to me.

“I think, let’s say, sort of after the first quarter of the year, I knew there was a contention. There was a, let’s say, a rabbit to chase, a possibility that I can fight for this. There was no given task [in this period of waiting]. There was obviously a lot of people that were still out of contract and so much going on. So I had to be very patient and find my time and really feed my case, make sure I maximise every time I got behind the wheel. And I’m grateful that the patience paid off, as well as not racing, because, like you said, that is a risk. But potentially, if I didn’t take that risk, this wouldn’t have happened.”

Whole Sainz situation –

Doohan: “I think it’s a difficult one to accept, to know that my future is dictated by someone else, and someone else’s decision. But it’s a no-brainer, any midfield team would take someone of the likes of Carlos Sainz, with his rich experience, race-winning experience, and the marketability that he brings. But I’m confident in the stage that we are at with Team Enstone, that I was the right choice to take, and to embark on this journey that we’re going on. So I’m hoping to be added value to the steps and the changes that we’re making, to ensure that we get to where we want to go.”

Mick Doohan’s presence –

Doohan: “I think just guiding me on a mental perspective, how I’m conducting myself. It was some difficult times, knowing that at points, my future was obviously outside of my control, and there was points of waiting, making sure I was positioning myself in the right way, and he had a very rich experience of that himself. And in what he did, he did it very successfully many times. So I was being a sponge, really just trying to soak in all the information that I could get. But he also knew it was a very important time for me, an important time for me to learn things on my own as well. So he was really doing a perfect mix of making me find my feet in myself, but also pitching him when he had to.”

TPC, learning –

Doohan: “I think every time I’m in the car, it’s important, whether it’s on track, off track in the sim, it’s just showing my capabilities of what I can do. And them having the trust, knowing that they’re confident to put me in the car and that I can do the job. Knowing that Carlos was a cork in the bottle, but there still was no potential, plenty of other potential candidates that are still have a rich experience out there. So for them to have the trust to put me in the car, I’m very grateful for that and thankful for the time that I get inside the car. As for testing, I think we have not a clear car for sure on track next to me. But we have data from plenty of years from back from 2022.

“We can correlate different conditions, make sure that they’re lining up and have a ballpark area until there’s a car next to me with, like you said, Pierre or Esteban, they’re doing the exact same run plan. Even, on any test days at the start of the year in Bahrain, officially, you never really know what’s going on until you’re qualifying. They’re all tracks are on, the cars are on track at the same time. We know in the ballpark figure that when I’m performing, when I have to have time to find. And that’s why Alpine does such a great job of this testing program. I think why it’s admired so well as well.”

Relation with Pierre Gasly and team –

Doohan: “You never know until you’re in that situation, but we have a great relationship. I think we’re both targeting to make sure that we create a great atmosphere throughout the team, like you said, have a collaborative relationship together, because at this point in time, any drivers fighting in the midfield, it is the sole focus to do the best job you can on track, but to get the team higher up, and to do that we have to work together. We have to have a great working relationship to ensure that we’re maximising our own performance, but also the car’s performance in order for it to go forward.

“With the team, it’s been a good experience for me. To be honest, they haven’t been very new to me by the time they’re in that role. With Bruno, I have spent a lot of time with him before he came into the team principal role, from his previous time in Viry, and always being on track side, and then with Oliver coming in, and previously I worked with Oliver in 2019 when I was driving for Hitech, so it’s great to work with different type of people, and different type of team principals, and understanding how they operate. It’s just more experience for myself.”

Challenge for team and himself –

Doohan: “I think the biggest thing is getting our team back to where we know it can be, and getting Team Enstone back to the front of the grid. And I think we’re getting all the right people in place to do that. We’re doing what we have to and taking the risks and opportunities when we need to. And for sure, taking a rookie and also a young driver can be a risk, but I feel like it’s also going to do really great things for the team at the factory. It’s a new face in there, a young kid, I’m hungry, I’m determined. I feel like that’s going to help a lot with mechanics and everyone back at factory to really get everyone back together, get the motivation, the moral high, and everyone pushing that step further.

“As for me, I guess the unknowns, which I’ve been prepared as much as possible. My TPC testing, experiencing Paddock Club, ventures, marketing commitments. James [PR], here, has obviously, since day dot, been with the team preparing me as much as possible to be ready for this day, for when it does come. So the only thing left, really, is that unknown is racing on track, but then I know the other guys. I have to learn how they race. I can watch it, but how they will race me, how the situations will be. So I can test as much as I want to be on the sim, but there’s a few things that I’m just going to have to figure out myself. I look forward to enjoying them, really more so, not dreading enjoying it, and just taking it all in. I feel like that’s going to be the priority, to make it work out well.”