Missing out on a spot in Q3 by 0.017s, Karun Chandhok has revealed Alpine engineers have told him they believe Jack Doohan is “nearly there”.

It is a notably different tone to the near-constant speculation about Doohan’s pending axing, that not helped by the Australian driver’s FP2 crash at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Could Jack Doohan score his first F1 points in Bahrain?

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

However, he bounced back from that battering to qualify a career-high 11th for the Bahrain Grand Prix, having missed out on a Q3 berth by 0.017s.

Doohan arrived on the F1 2025 grid hounded by reports that his days at Alpine were numbered, and that it was only a matter of time before reserve driver Franco Colapinto hopped into the A525.

A big crash at the Australian Grand Prix was followed by another two races later in Suzuka, when a “misjudgment” meant he didn’t close the DRS as he entered high-speed Turn 1, the two incidents leaving Alpine with a hefty repair bill.

Although Doohan did stage a mini fightback as he made up the most positions at Suzuka to finish P15, his showing in Bahrain this weekend has hinted that the tide is turning for the Australian rookie.

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And according to former F1 driver turned Sky F1 presenter Chandhok, Alpine have clearly noted it.

“One of the Alpine engineers described to me that it’s been ‘nearly there’ for Jack Doohan,” Chandhok said. “Liam Lawson got dropped, Jack Doohan is still there for Alpine despite having this monumental accident.

“Such a huge crash, and he was lucky to be well enough to drive. DRS was open, he didn’t close the DRS when he turned into that corner and had a huge impact.

“He’s recovered well I think this weekend. Obviously, Japan, for the rest of it, was a bit of a struggle.

“But this weekend he’s looked good so far. I think Jack has really done well to mentally recover from this.”

Although disappointed that he didn’t join his team-mate Pierre Gasly in the pole position shoot-out at the Sakhir circuit, Doohan believes he is on the cusp of scoring his first Formula 1 World Championship points.

“Definitely. We were sticking along nicely the whole session, and, yeah, all three runs leading up to it” he told the media including PlanetF1.com.

“I think maybe I was asking for a bit too much of the tyre on the out-lap and trying to ensure that it was ready. And I think I just missed the window.

“It didn’t really feel like I was on a new tyre and wasn’t able to extract it. So yeah, one for learning for me.

“But yeah, we just have to keep our heads down. We’re on the brink of points, and it’s so ultra close.

“We looked solid all through Q2. It just shows that you have to be on it the whole time. And I thought I was doing the right thing, and I just missed the window.”

Doohan admitted qualifying was “certainly” a confidence booster, the rookie added: “It’s a difficult and disappointing place to be now, knowing how strong the whole session was until then. But it’s good confidence to keep in the back and good confidence going into the race.”

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