“Better end” brings Doohan some light after damp Miami Sprint

Jack Doohan found glimpses of promise amid a muted Saturday, describing the Sprint as “not super tricky”, before salvaging some pride in Qualifying with a “better end” to the day and a P14 start for the Miami Grand Prix.

After an internal blunder left Doohan bowing out of Sprint Qualifying in SQ1, the Australian was tasked with launching from the soaked grid in P18. 

Taking a cautious approach in the treacherous conditions, Doohan lost a position to Yuki Tsunoda as the field charged into the first turn, leaving Gabriel Bortoleto as the only driver in the #7’s mirrors for much of his intermediate tyre stint. 

The weather slightly played into Doohan’s hands when the Sauber had clawed its way within a second of the Alpine, however, with DRS not yet enabled, Bortoleto was forced to sit idle. 

From Lap 10 onwards, the tarmac gradually began to form a dry line, with Doohan reacting just a few laps later when the slick tyre proved to be the quicker compound.  

Building momentum and showing more pace than his teammate and the front-running Sauber ahead, Doohan’s recovery came to a halt when a late-race Safety Car neutralised the final three laps of racing in Miami, with Fernando Alonso’s wounded Aston Martin too big a challenge for the marshals to clear in time. 

“To be honest, it wasn’t super tricky,” Doohan said.

“I think the FIA and everyone involved did an excellent job on making sure that it was safe for us to drive out there, so very thankful for them because I think we ended up in great conditions there.

“And yeah, the [intermediate tyre], I knew it was going to be a long way probably on that so I did the best to sort of not push too hard on it and just stay a bit chill.

“And when it was going to get to that tricky area of the race in the last few laps there, you know, we seemed to have quite a good bit of pace — a couple seconds quicker than [Nico Hulkenberg] and Pierre [Gasly] ahead.

“But yeah, by the decision to move onto slicks, I think it was the right call.

“Difficult to choose, you know, if it was the right lap — it’s never going to be — just lost a bit of track position there and, unfortunately, then we had the Safety Car.”

As a result, Doohan finished the race at the very back of the pack in P17, however, was promoted to P16 due to Max Verstappen’s 10-second time penalty.

Trying to make the most out of the opportunity for a complete reset, this morning’s Grand Prix Qualifying was an opportunity for Doohan to redeem his weekend in Miami.

Reacquainting himself with the now-dry conditions at the Miami International Autodrome, the Australian set an opening time of 1:27.244s before jumping into P11, shaving four-tenths off his initial time.

Doohan toppled down the order to sit as one of the drivers most at risk of a Q1 elimination, using the final two minutes to salvage a critical last-ditch lap in Miami.

Setting personal best sectors on his way to restating himself in P11, an agonising wait to know whether the #7 would be dragged back down followed, however, the stress soon turned to celebration when the Australian was confirmed to be advancing to the second round.

It wasn’t a competitive first Q2 run for Doohan who recorded a time of 1:27.313s, leaving him over a second behind his compatriot’s benchmark as he retreated to the pitlane.

Upon return, things weren’t much better for the Australian who, despite setting three personal best sectors across the 5.4km lap, couldn’t break free of the bottom five. 

“It was a better end to Qualifying today,” Doohan said.

“Of course, it would have been great to progress through to Q3, but I felt the car was in a good window and we pushed to get what we could out of the session. 

“We were on the pace quite quickly in Q1 and our first sector was quite strong. 

“With such close margins across the grid, it is the small things which come into play to make the difference between positions.”

With a fastest time of 1:27.186s, Doohan only managed to secure a P14 start for tomorrow’s race, finding the positive in out-qualifying his teammate.

The Australian will line up alongside Bortoleto who achieved his highest qualifying result of the season, with Liam Lawson the driver directly in his mirrors.

“We will debrief tonight to see what gains can be made and see what is possible tomorrow,” the #7 said.

“The weather is looking like it will rain again so we will look to take advantage of anything which could come from that. 

“The aim will be to hold onto our position and set ourselves up to optimise the opportunities that arise for us to progress forward.”

Lights out for what is forecast to be a wet weather-impacted Miami Grand Prix will take place at 06:00 AEST.

Image: BWT Alpine F1 Team

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