“I actually sent him a message on Instagram,” Alpine junior Jack Doohan explains the situation that led to his FP1 debut


“I actually sent him a message on Instagram,” Alpine junior Jack Doohan explains the situation that led to his FP1 debut

Jack Doohan

The news of Fernando Alonso’s exit from Alpine came as a shock, but what happened next was an even bigger shock. Alpine junior and 2021 F2 champion Oscar Piastri publicly turned down the seat, citing that the announcement had been made without his consent. The case went to the Contract Recognition Board, where Piastri won, and subsequently moved to McLaren. But another Australian was lying in wait.

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Jack Doohan, son of Motorcycle racing legend Mick Doohan, currently competes in Formula 2, where he is fourth, behind Logan Sargeant. He is also a member of the Alpine racing academy and in Mexico, he made his Grand Prix weekend debut. When the Piastri news came, the Aussie had got down, and made his case to Alpine, getting in touch with Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi through Instagram.

Speaking about that time to RaceFans, Doohan said: “All that news obviously broke. I didn’t have Laurent’s number or anything. So I actually sent him a DM [direct message] on Instagram, basically this huge, big, long paragraph saying why I think I could be a candidate going forward. He replied at like 3 am – I think he was in the US or somewhere – with his number at the bottom and that we should chat in the coming days.”

While the Australian would have hoped to take the seat meant for Piastri, as we know, that did not come to be, as it went to Pierre Gasly. But he is now clearly their lead reserve driver, and the sessions that were meant for Piastri will now go to him. One more FP1 session is scheduled for him in Abu Dhabi.

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Also Read: “It’s a magnificent moment,” MotoGP legend Mick Doohan gets emotional over his son Jack’s F1 debut at the Mexican GP

Jack Doohan glad he took a shot at ‘farfetched’ opportunity

Jack Doohan
Jack Doohan

Of course, the next step for Jack Doohan was to get in contact with Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer, which he did, and also: “I spoke to Otmar the following night briefly and every day I was trying to speak to whoever I could in all parts of the Formula 1 team and in all parts of structure, through the academy.”

Doohan’s chance at getting THE main seat at Alpine was always going to be a long shot, but he’s glad that he at least tried: “It was an opportunity and even if it was a farfetched one, at least now with the seat obviously being closed off and Pierre taking it, I know that I’m not sitting here thinking ‘I wish I pushed a little bit more, I wish I tried.’”

The Australian further added that for ‘six weeks’ he, his father and his management did everything they could to try and get him in the seat, and even though it did not work out, ‘good things’ came out of it, and he ended up moving forward in his career. He is likely to take over Oscar Piastri’s current duties from next year.

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Also Read: “There will be no hierarchy,” Laurent Rossi reveals plans for team dynamics at Alpine in 2023

Also Read: ‘Made it very clear for me that I should go there’: Pierre Gasly reveals what convinced him to join Alpine