Jack Doohan earned glowing praise from Alpine boss Oliver Oakes after marking his early arrival on the F1 grid at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Doohan – a product of the Alpine Academy – was due to step up from reserve driver to Alpine racer from F1 2025 as the replacement for Esteban Ocon, but found himself making that step up at the F1 2024 season finale in Abu Dhabi.

Jack Doohan impresses Alpine after ‘baptism of fire’

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Despite proving the slowest qualifier, Doohan was only eight-tenths off Q1’s fastest driver Charles Leclerc and elevated to P17 on the grid due to various penalties, raced on to a P15 finish.

And what the 21-year-old Aussie demonstrated earned him the praise of Alpine team principal Oliver Oakes.

“He’s done a really good job,” said Oakes on Doohan when speaking to the media, including PlanetF1.com.

“I think I said it before the weekend, I felt a bit sorry for him, since his debut was a little bit overshadowed by different knives being put in, but I think he conducted himself brilliantly.

“And I think anyone who watched closely saw his rate of improvement throughout the weekend. I think particularly qualifying as well. His first run in Q3 was really close to Pierre [Gasly]. I think he was a bit unlucky, sort of run two there with the last corner melee, with a few drivers.

“But in the race, I think he did exactly what we needed. He kept his nose clean. He put in a good second stint there. And we dragged him on a little bit to help us there. Slowed the Haas down a little bit as well.”

Final F1 2024 head-to-head standings

👉 F1 2024: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2024: Head-to-head qualifying record between team-mates

As for the greatest challenge Doohan faced, that final push lap to try and make the Q2 cut stood out for Oakes.

“I think obviously that second run in qualifying is probably a bit of a baptism of fire for him,” said the Alpine boss, “of everything you’ve got to deal with if you’re back at the queue and elbows out.

“I think he was a bit unlucky as well, because, [Nico] Hulkenberg later got penalised for passing him and the other car. Whether things would have been different or not, who knows.

“But I think it’s more just going through the emotions of a race weekend. And I think we’ll have to see early part of next year, if that helps him or not.

“I really feel Jack deserves a lot of credit this weekend for blocking out all that noise and delivering a solid weekend.

“It’s a testament to him, really. Aside from, you know, keeping his nose clean and showing a bit of speed and able to handle everything, he’s really done a really good job.”

Alpine ultimately secured P6 in the Constructors’ Championship in Abu Dhabi.

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