2024-08-23 11:15:33
Australian Jack Doohan, son of five-time 500cc motorcycling world champion Mick Doohan, will drive for Alpine next season, the struggling Formula One team announced Friday. The 21-year-old has been promoted from reserve team driver and will partner Frenchman Pierre Gasly for the 2025 season. “Pierre and Jack give the team a balance of youth and experience in its driver line-up geared towards building a successful future,” said the team in a statement.
Alpine sit a lowly eight out of 10 teams in the constructors’ championship, with Gasly scoring just six points this term thanks to two ninth spots and two tenths.
Gasly’s teammate Esteban Ocon, who will join the Haas team next year, has only scored five points in a “frustrating” season which he said had not seen “enough improvement in certain areas.”
He claimed both his and Alpine’s sole win so far at the rain-hit Hungarian Grand Prix in 2021.
Ocon, who made his F1 debut in 2016, announced he was splitting with Alpine in June, a week after a collision with Gasly in Monaco for which he was blamed.
Alpine have also had a change at the top, with 36-year-old Englishman Oliver Oakes taking over as team principal for the Dutch Grand Prix on Sunday.
Oakes replaced Frenchman Bruno Famin, who was initially placed in charge on a temporary basis following the departure of previous team boss Otmar Szafnauer and lasted a year.
Gasly had tried to lure Carlos Sainz to the team after the Spaniard’s departure from Ferrari was announced earlier this season.
However, Sainz opted to join Williams instead.
Nevertheless Gasly speaking on Thursday before the appointment was officially announced, dished out praise for Doohan, who will be the third Australian driver on the grid alongside Oscar Piastri and Daniel Ricciardo.
“He’s a great kid. I think he’s fast from watching what he’s been doing in Formula 2 the previous years,” Gasly told reporters.
“He knows the team and yeah he’s a great guy so I think he’s a good option,” he added.
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