Jack Doohan, Alpine’s academy driver, makes his Formula 1 debut this weekend, emphasizing preparation and learning over immediate results.
Doohan will make his Formula 1 debut this weekend, and the Alpine F1 driver received the news directly from Flavio Briatore. He outlines his goals for his first weekend as a full-time driver, ahead of taking on the role next season.
“To be honest, he told me I’d be racing and to stay ready—it’s very straightforward with Flavio,” Doohan said. “There are no expectations. We want to make progress on Friday, and FP2 is new territory for me! The aim is to keep improving throughout Friday and the weekend, then finish the race to gain more experience for 2025.”
“With the Alpine academy, the TPCs, and testing, they’ve been preparing me for a long time. I’ve been part of the program for a while. I’m the first academy driver to race, and making my debut here ahead of next year is incredible. A circuit I know is better than one I don’t. But there’s no particular expectation.”
“Compared to other circuits where I haven’t been, this is an advantage. It’s a track I know, but others know it well too. It could be tight. On tracks where there’s testing, like here or Barcelona, it’s sometimes challenging.”
“I know the track, but it won’t be simple. My goal is to be quick, do my best, and support the team so they can secure sixth and achieve their objectives.”
The Australian acknowledged that he will need to adapt to the competitive environment and, in particular, F1’s regulations: “There aren’t 19 other cars on track during qualifying. There isn’t really a full set of sporting regulations to follow in testing. There are areas I’ve worked on to improve my understanding of the sporting rules.”
“I’m making sure to maximize everything and avoid uncomfortable situations. I’m revisiting simple things, like a delayed start, which caused confusion in Brazil, and reviewing basics I think I know. Other than that, the team has prepared me very well.”
“There is one thing we obviously don’t do in TPC testing with the program, and that’s live pit stops. We don’t have the full team. So hopefully, during the first and second practice sessions, we’ll get the chance to simulate those kinds of scenarios.”
“But I will also be racing, managing energy deployment, overtaking—things I don’t do when I’m the only car on track during testing. These are the small details I’m reviewing to ensure I know them and can maximize them this weekend.”
Pierre Gasly is pleased with the progress Alpine has made since the start of the season and commends the team’s work. The Frenchman highlights the collective resilience shown by the team, as well as his own, to return to a higher level.
“Incredible teamwork, I’m very impressed by the development throughout the year. When you look at Bahrain and where we were in the opening races, we weren’t scoring points,” Gasly noted.
“It was tough for everyone in the team. Even recently, when you put in the effort but don’t see results, you have to keep the big picture in mind and focus on the fact that it’s going to be a long season.”
“It’s been very satisfying to see the car the team has given me recently. We’re in a much more comfortable position, scoring points, and we’re faster than other cars.”
“We didn’t give up on the season when things weren’t going well, and we turned it around. We finished sixth, but if you look at the performance over the last few weekends, we’ve been in the top five, qualified in the top three, so we have good momentum heading into next year.”
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No Expectations: Doohan Prepares for F1 Debut with Alpine No Expectations: Doohan Prepares for F1 Debut with Alpine
