Doohan delivers “promising” signs in Abu Dhabi debut

Jack Doohan completed his Formula 1 debut at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, getting his first taste of wheel-to-wheel racing at the highest level and achieving a solid 15th-place finish as he looked ahead to 2025 and his home race in Melbourne.

Capitalising on some of his new-found peers’ grid penalties, Doohan was promoted to 17th of the grid, in the company of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc as he launched off the line to fulfil his childhood dream. 

As the five lights went out for the first time in his F1 career, however, for the last time in 2024, Doohan made up one position as he worked to avoid the spinning cars at Turn 1 and Turn 6.

In the laps that followed, he had his fair share of battles too, racing with those who had rejoined behind after their pitstops. 

The Alpine driver completed his first-ever F1 pitstop on Lap 22, rejoining in at the back of the field as he worked his hard tyres up to temperature. 

Eventually, Doohan found himself circulating in P13 as the rest of his competitors filed into the pitlane, and from there, he kicked into defensive gear. 

On Lap 39 he was passed by his compatriot, Oscar Piastri, and soon had Lance Stroll for company, with the Aston Martin driver eventually demoting him, however, not without a valiant challenge through Turn 9 where the Australian almost came out on top. 

Now running in P14, Zhou Guanyu spent the final few laps of his time at Sauber attacking the Australian after clawing his way into DRS range. 

From five-tenths back, the Sauber driver positioned himself well on the run to Turn 9, making Doohan an easy target as they rounded the sweeping corner with just five laps remaining. 

The Australian held onto P15 by the chequered flag, finishing his debut Grand Prix without a scratch before joining Pierre Gasly in celebrating the team’s P6 finish in the constructors’ championship, clearing Haas by 7 points after 24 hard-fought race weekends.

“Firstly, thank you to Luca de Meo, Flavio Briatore and Oliver Oakes for the opportunity,” Doohan said. 

“It has been an incredible experience to make my Formula 1 debut and I am very grateful that they entrusted me to step into the car this weekend.

“Thank you to the whole team for making the transition as smooth as possible. 

“It was fantastic to get back racing, I have learned a lot and gained a lot of experience. 

“We finished sixth in the Constructors’ Championship, which is great, I am happy to have assisted where possible to achieve that, both this weekend and throughout the whole season behind the scenes. 

“Congratulations to Pierre on his result in the race and also getting tenth in the Drivers’ Championship. 

“I am looking forward to next season, kicking it off with my home race in Australia and continuing to work and progress with the team.”

Celebrating his team’s sixth-place finish in the constructors’ championship in his first season as Team Principal at Alpine, Oliver Oakes was full of praise for all his team members.

“It’s a great achievement to end the season in sixth place in the standings,” Oakes said. 

“The turnaround in the second half of the season by the team has been amazing and shows that the hard work and determination of everyone at Enstone and Viry has paid off. 

“The team never gave up, never lost sight of the end goal, and we can take that confidence and momentum into 2025. 

“Pierre drove a great race and did everything asked of him. 

“He’s been at the top of his game recently and put in another top performance today to keep Nico [Hülkenberg] at bay. 

“Jack did well today and showed promising pace, matching the cars around him on similar strategies. 

“It’s a great learning for him to take into next year. 

“Credit to Haas and RB who were strong this year and kept the fight exciting to the very end. 

“Also, congratulations to McLaren on winning the Constructors’ Championship. 

“They’ve been the benchmark this year and they thoroughly deserve it.”

Alpine and its newest Australian driver will now turn their focus to the post-season test, their last official rodeo of the year before setting their sights on the 2025 season opener and the most significant moment yet: Doohan’s home Grand Prix at Albert Park.

Image: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images

READ THE LATEST ISSUE OF AUTO ACTION HERE

Don’t forget the print edition of Auto Action available via subscription here. For more of the latest motorsport news, subscribe to AUTO ACTION magazine.