Assessing Doohan’s slow-burn debut at F1’s Abu Dhabi finale

Abu Dhabi’s season finale was, in effect, “Race Zero” for Jack Doohan. Alpine pounced on a chance to give the Australian his Formula 1 debut a race early, pre-emptively relieving some of the expected pressure that Doohan might have experienced in his home race in 2025. Thus, the Enstone squad released Esteban Ocon a race early to make it happen.

This was the culmination of Doohan’s apprenticeship at the team. The son of five-time grand prix motorcycling champion Mick had plied his trade for the past year in old Alpine machinery, under the testing of previous cars regulations, but his focus on a reserve role over 2024 meant that there was a year’s worth of race-rust to dissolve over the weekend.