The other Doohan charting his way to motorsport success

As one of 10 rookies joining the F2 grid in 2022, Jack Doohan has been one of the most talked about. Finishing 2021 as F3 runner-up to Dennis Hauger, who has also made the step up to F2 this season, Doohan took four wins and seven podiums on his title charge last year, finishing with 179 points – just 26 shy of the champion.

It was an impressive season from the young Australian, and even more so considering he failed to score a point the previous year, making his debut with HWA Racelab and finishing 26th in the standings with 0 points. But his move to Trident proved fruitful, and with a solid season behind him, he joined 2021 F2 runners-up Virtuosi Racing for his F2 campaign – the team which fielded Zhou Guanyu in the series last year, finishing third before moving up to Formula 1 with Alfa Romeo.

Though he is technically a rookie, Doohan doesn’t see himself as one, having competed in the final two F2 rounds of 2021 in Jeddah and Abu Dhabi with MP Motorsport and taking seven points in the process.

Doohan hasn’t quite had the start to the season he was hoping for, but he is optimistic about the rest of the year, with a mammoth eight rounds remaining from the 14-round calendar.

Speaking to Autosport ahead of the Baku round, Doohan seemed optimistic about the progress he has made so far, and though he has regrets about some of the opening races (particularly the contact with Theo Pourchaire in Bahrain exiting the pitlane), he is realistic about his prospects.

“I'm still in a good place, he said. “Going into Bahrain, I was trying not to really put myself into a rookie categorisation this year, as I definitely didn't want to, and I'm still not planning to, have a backup plan of a second year of Formula 2, so to get pole in the first round was quite good and the feature race was going well until I made a mistake.

“That was just a rookie error, honestly. And Jeddah with the disqualification after qualifying, kinda like a street circuit, it's a little bit easier to pass than Monaco obviously. And luckily, I was still able to get a point in the feature.

Jack Doohan, Virtuosi Racing

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

“Just to summarise it without blabbing on, the first three rounds weren't how I wanted them to go, still with qualifying in the top three in all three. So it was very disappointing not to be able to convert that into any top points, because I'm looking back now, and after two rounds going from, you know, 17th to sixth in the championship in just two rounds, I definitely am slightly punching myself to think of what I could have done with those great positions in the three rounds.

“But in the end at the moment, yeah, my eyes are just forward and I'm trying to use the momentum that I've gained from the past two weekends to continue that moving forward for the remainder of the season.”

Doohan scored just six points across the opening three rounds in Bahrain, Jeddah and Imola. But ahead of Barcelona, he says he mentally regrouped, “taking a deep breath in, taking a step back, having a quick reset, because I think unfortunately, things got into a little bit of a spiral without knowing and just refocusing fresh faced.”

- “Going into Bahrain, I was trying not to really put myself into a rookie categorisation this year, as I definitely didn't want to - and I'm still not planning to - have a backup plan of a second year of Formula 2" Jack Doohan

And it worked, with the Spanish weekend producing Doohan’s first podium, a second place finish in the feature race. He saw that podium as a relief – not just for him, but largely for his team, who he says he felt bad for with their unimpressive points tally.

Monaco, too, saw Doohan take home a healthy points haul, finishing seventh in the sprint race and narrowly missing out on the podium in the feature – something he said was “disappointing”. Though he failed to score in Baku, the twisting Azerbaijani street circuit can put paid to the victory hopes of far more experienced drivers, as Juri Vips found out in Sunday’s feature race.

He has no reason to feel despondent, though, with a long stretch of races remaining until the season ends in Abu Dhabi in November, and much of those at circuits Doohan is already familiar with.

Another tool Doohan brings with him to his 2022 challenge is a new partnership with Alpine, having joined their driver academy in January. Though he was previously a member of the Red Bull Junior Team, he says Alpine is “a better fit” for his career currently, with fewer juniors on their books to focus on – he is one of just two F2 juniors for Alpine, whereas Red Bull have five on their books.

Jack Doohan, F2

Photo by: FIA Formula 2

It’s certainly proved a shrewd move, with the Australian undertaking his first F1 test in Qatar in May alongside their reserve driver (and 2021 F2 champion) Oscar Piastri. Doohan says more opportunities are coming up in the future, but concedes that Piastri is their priority as the team’s official reserve driver.

He completed 82 laps of the Losail circuit in a 2021-spec A521 chassis, and describes the test as “everything that I've ever dreamed of - from a young boy being in karting, that's what you want, you want to drive a Formula 1 car and ultimately race a Formula 1 car.

“So to be able to tick that off, and to experience what it's like to work with that many people with the F1 team and understand everything that is spoken about is just unbelievable.”

When asked about Piastri’s tricky situation, having found himself without a racing seat this season, Doohan says he thinks it is “definitely unfair,” but adds: “Like we see with Zhou going to Formula 1, you know, a Formula 2 champion is not as appealing as a third placed driver with backing.

“Zhou’s an amazing driver and equal to Oscar, there's nothing to say between the two, but what I mean is that winning isn't enough, unfortunately, unless it’s right place, right time.

“Like in 2018, where there was a few seats available - good timing, and the top three from the championship were all able to go to Formula 1 the following year, but then unfortunately, in a time like last year, that just wasn't available.”

Beyond Alpine and Virtuosi, Doohan has a tight-knit team helping him, with no outside management, but central to which is his father, motorcycle legend Mick Doohan.

Mick Doohan

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Winning five consecutive 500cc world championships, the Doohan name is revered in the world of racing. In 1997, his most successful year, Doohan won 12 out of 15 races and finished second in another two – a record in the category, also tallying the most points achieved with a whopping 340. He holds the fourth-most wins of any Grand Prix rider, behind Valentino Rossi, Giacomo Agostini and Marc Marquez.

“At the racetrack, he definitely tries to stay, not away but definitely in the background, but just be there for support, and for management, you could say,” Doohan says. “But outside of that he is everything, constantly working for me and constantly managing, whether it be logistics, hotel, flights, you know, making sure everything's in check.”

It is unsurprising, perhaps, that one might not want to be overshadowed by a famous father. But Doohan says his dad provides a unique insight when it comes to helping him, and has helped him to overcome mental challenges he’s encountered during his junior career.

- “Consistency is key at the moment in Formula 2, especially with how the championship is going, and Felipe [Drugovich] has proven that." Jack Doohan

“Obviously it’s a different discipline, but the foundation is the same in any professional sports person,” he says. “You know, it comes down to mental strength and mental capacity, and all elite sportspeople are the same.

“So that's where he's been trying to emphasise from a young age, and it was something that I needed to work on. I feel like we've definitely made inroads and overcome things in the past three years. So obviously, two wheels and four wheels are different, but there's some characteristics that are the same, so it's great to have his insight there.”

Did he ever consider following his father into motorcycle racing?

“From a young age, I was only two wheels,” he said. “From honestly, whenever I can remember, I was two wheels, and that's all I wanted to do. But a crash when I was five on my birthday kind of put me off bikes. I did a bit of push biking for a couple of years, pumptrack BMX, but from the age of seven I kind of migrated to doing a bit more karting and I started kart racing from the age of eight.

Jack Doohan, Alpine Academy

Photo by: Alpine

“I broke my left leg, and I think it shocked me quite a lot. And I don't know how it was with dad or if the bike just wasn't there, but to be honest, yeah, definitely wasn't on the bike for a while. And I think it put me off motorbikes for quite a few years, and I was quite hesitant to get back on.”

Looking ahead to the rest of 2022, Doohan is optimistic about his chances, currently sitting ninth in the drivers’ standings. Over the Barcelona and Monaco weekends, he scored 42 points, and says continuing with those scores will be crucial to his progress.

“I'm feeling good. I think we have a good bit of momentum and things in our way going forward. So I think it's just a priority to keep this consistency and keep scoring points in every race and staying out of trouble. I think if we can aim for a 20-point weekend for the remainder of the season, I think that'll put us in a very strong position.

“Consistency is key at the moment in Formula 2, especially with how the championship is going, and Felipe [Drugovich] has proven that. So if we can continue in this way and now going forward to circuits that I think are a little bit easier to overtake on, hopefully we will be able to take advantage a bit more on our pace in the sprint race and in the feature race.

“Going into the remainder of the year will all be known tracks. So I think we're just gonna take them as they come, you know, treat it as one lap, one race, one round at a time and make sure we're just not really looking into the future too much.

“Obviously, we have to here and there to make sure things are on track, but definitely just prioritising and focusing on the here and now and making sure that we're doing everything right in each session that we do to ensure that the outcome is where it wants to be.”

As Doohan says, consistency is key in Formula 2. With eight rounds remaining of 2022, it’s crucial the Aussie finds the rhythm he needs to mount a real title challenge if he hopes to move up to F1 next year.

Jack Doohan, Virtuosi Racing

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images