Doohan “proud” of Shanghai showing despite late penalty

Jack Doohan got his “elbows out” in a hard-fought Chinese Grand Prix, picking up a hefty time penalty in his battle with Isack Hadjar, however, he refused to let it ruin his Sunday, finishing the race “proud” of his efforts in Shanghai.

Starting 18th on the grid, a recovery drive into the points was always going to be a tall order for the rookie, especially given that the Chinese Grand Prix marked his first full race distance of 2025.

“It was good to complete a full race distance in the car this weekend,” Doohan said.

“There were plenty of learnings to take from the race. 

“Our pace was positive, especially towards the end of the race, and it was nice to be in amongst a few good battles.”

When the five lights went out to start the Shanghai charge, Doohan worked to put his season-opening woes behind him.

Completing his first full Grand Prix racing lap of the season, the #7 made up two places across the 5.4km Shanghai International Circuit, however, his momentum was brought to a halt when he found himself running in a stagnant DRS train.

As a result, Alpine called its driver in for his first and only pitstop on Lap 11.

With his hard tyres at the ready, Doohan rejoined the race in P18, however, the decision to be one of the first cars to pit proved unfavourable for the Australian when he was gradually picked off by drivers on fresher tyres later on. 

Both Carlos Sainz and the fast-charging Haas of Oliver Bearman were just two to do so before he inherited his way into P13.

With the two-stopper of Isack Hadjar closing in behind, the Australian switched to an aggressive defensive strategy that ultimately proved costly, however, in terms of learning how to handle his A525, it was worthwhile. 

On the run into Turn 14, the quicker VCARB forged an attack into the hairpin, however, Doohan over-aggressively attempted to cover Hadjar off on the inside of the hairpin, locking up and running his opponent off the circuit.

As a result, the Stewards handed him a ten-second time penalty for forcing a driver off the track, dropping him to P16 as the chequered flag was waved. 

“We showed some of our potential in racing conditions in keeping Isack [Hadjar] in the RB behind for more than 20 laps, especially considering their speed all weekend,” Doohan said.

“It was unfortunate to receive the penalty that we did, and we will revisit it to ensure it does not happen again.”

Following the post-race disqualification of three drivers, including Doohan’s teammate, Pierre Gasly whose car was found to be underweight during post-race scrutineering, the Australian was officially classified in P13, finishing 1m 28s behind his victorious compatriot.

“Overall, we have made some positive steps forward as a team through testing and the first two races and, clearly, there are many areas for us to improve,” the Alpine driver concluded. 

“We will keep our heads down for Japan in a few weeks and hope to bring in some points for the team.” 

Returning to a conventional weekend format, the Japanese Grand Prix will run across April 4-6, with FP1 kicking off at 13:30 AEDT on the Friday.

Image: Clive Mason/Getty Images

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