Alpine engineer privately used two words to describe embattled Jack Doohan before Bahrain GP – Chandhok

Alpine engineer privately used two words to describe embattled Jack Doohan before Bahrain GP – Chandhok

Jack Doohan is looking to score his first points as a Formula 1 driver at the Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend. That’s the kind of result that could transform the narrative around his Alpine future.

 

Doohan has thus far done little to dent Franco Colapinto’s confidence of a swift promotion. Colapinto is putting him under pressure after joining from Williams as reserve driver.

Alpine haven’t been as competitive as expected, with neither Doohan nor Gasly scoring a point. But the Australian has also made a series of mistakes.

He’s crashed twice, including a shunt in Japan that Karun Chandhok called ‘monumental’. He also has four penalty points, putting him a third of the way to a race ban.

 

Karun Chandhok says Alpine feel Jack Doohan is ‘nearly there’

Speaking on the F1 Show before the Bahrain Grand Prix, Chandhok praised Doohan’s response to his monstrous Suzuka accident. He was quicker than teammate Gasly during practice in Sakhir.

The cause of Doohan’s crash hasn’t yet been confirmed, with some suggestions that there was a fault with the DRS. The initial theory was that he’d been attempting turn one with the rear-wing flap open in the simulator, and tried the same approach.

 

Alpine had to pay £1.3m to repair Doohan’s car, and the driver himself was feeling the effects throughout the weekend. But there remains some optimism on his side of the garage.

 

One engineer told Chandhok that the 22-year-old is on the verge of making a breakthrough.

“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 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 and ended that FP2 ahead of Pierre Gasly. I think Jack has really done well to mentally recover from this.”

Jack Doohan may have received blunt Alpine warning before Bahrain Grand Prix

Alpine boss Flavio Briatore took an unusual step during Bahrain practice, watching closely from the team’s garage. It’s hardly outlandish to suggest he may have been observing Doohan closely.

 

Briatore faces a difficult driver dilemma, particularly as Colapinto was inconsistent and error-prone at Williams last year, even if he was stint was still broadly impressive.

 

Still, one journalist has reported that Doohan will ‘likely’ be dropped if he crashes again this weekend. Perhaps the slip-ups aren’t a surprise given that he’s been placed under so much scrutiny at the outset.

 

Oliver Oakes insists Doohan is good at ‘blocking out noise’, but he needs his first clean weekend in Bahrain. Thus far, he’s been outshone by all of his fellow rookies.