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Alpine F1 team principal Bruno Famin felt it's too early to determine whether Jack Doohan is ready for a potential drive. Speaking in the press conference ahead of the 2024 Japanese GP, the Frenchman felt that the Australian F2 driver has an intensive testing program lined up for the year.
Son of the famed MotoGP champion Mick Doohan, Jack has been a part of the Alpine Academy since 2022. He was formerly a part of the Red Bull junior academy from 2017 to 2021 and later signed with the French team.
While Doohan is a reserve driver for the Enstone team in 2024, he is currently not racing in any series. His duties primarily involve developing their current car and simulator duties.
The 21-year-old finished the F2 season in 2023 in third place in the championship — three places above Oliver Bearman. He also claimed just one fewer win than Liam Lawson's four in the 2022 F2 season.
Both the Ferrari and Red Bull reserve drivers have had their F1 debut but the Australian is yet to get his first F1 race outing. The Alpine reserve driver had also beaten current Williams F1 team driver Logan Sargeant in F3 in 2021 and finished second in the championship.
Despite signing him as a reserve, Alpine have failed to chalk out a path for the Gold Coast-born driver. Famin believes it is too early to decide where he fits in the driver market. He felt it was important for Doohan to develop as a driver through the testing program after which they could evaluate his potential.
Asked about Doohan’s chances at Alpine for the future, Famin said:
“First, we are very happy and proud to have Jack in the academy. I think he has been trained and he will be trained this year with quite a long testing programme. We are going to start soon because we need a car, we need a chassis to run that programme as well. And after, let's say, the drivers’ market is going to be also very dynamic.
"And right now, I can say that we are happy with the drivers we have, of course. But we are prepared for any scenario. And I think Jack needs to test to keep growing, to keep improving. And let's see what will be his future for us. But it's a bit early to answer to that question.”
Alpine team principal believes their upgrade in Japan should sort some of the issues on their car
Alpine team principal Bruno Famin suggests they are working hard to push for more upgrades on their car. He explained that their upgrade in Japan could fix some of their issues with tire temperature management.
Expecting more upgrades by Miami, the French team principal reckoned that their engine wing in Viry-Chattilon was working on improving energy management, and their Enstone base was focused on aerodynamic performance.
Asked about how the drivers felt about their first upgrades of the season, the Alpine team principal said, via the aforementioned source:
“For the time being, in FP1, they were struggling more with the tyre warming than evaluating the upgrade. I think, of course, the upgrade, we know it's not a major upgrade we have. It's an improved part, mainly the front wing here and developing the aero performance and reducing the weight as well. For the time being they are quite happy but struggling with the tyre warming.”
Asked about the development plan moving forward, Famin said:
“We are pushing, we are pushing as much as we can in both factories. In Viry, for the energy management, which is the only way where we can find performance by regulation. And in Enstone, of course, mainly on the aero and the tyre understanding developments. We are pushing hard for developing that car.”
On further upgrades on the Alpine car, he added:
“We are going to have more coming for sure. in the very coming races. Race six, in Miami.”
With a lot of the team structure at Alpine being reshuffled last season, it has been reflected in their organizational management. The Enstone-based team finished sixth in the constructors' standings in 2023 but are yet to score their first points in 2024.
As a factory outfit that was normally fourth best in the pecking order, they have gone backward after the 2022 season. Since preseason, they have struggled significantly with their car performance and are in a race against time to turn it around.
