“I Actually Sent Him a DM on Instagram”: Alpine Protege Reveals How He Used Every Trick in the Book to Beat Pierre Gasly to the Punch

His father is one of the most successful MotoGP drivers of all time. He won 5 consecutive 500cc world titles and is a legend across the MotoGP world. Naturally, you’d expect his son to be no less. While Jack Doohan opted for different machinery to race in, he’s one of the most exciting future prospects in F1. Furthermore, the Australian driver reveals how his failed bid to land the Alpine seat eventually yielded a positive result.

Currently sitting 4rd in the F2 world championships, Doohan has had an eventful last month. He drove Esteban Ocon’s Alpine in FP1 of the Mexican Grand Prix. However, his session was cut short as a precaution, after Alpine spotted some anomalies in the PU data of his car.

Despite only completing 13 laps in the Alpine car, Jack was elated with the opportunity to drive for the French constructors. Furthermore, the Aussie also explained how hard he tried to land the Alpine seat for next year. However, Alpine chose to sign Pierre Gasly, unsurprisingly.

Doohan said, “On the night that all that news broke, I didn’t have Laurent’s number or anything. So I actually sent him a DM on Instagram – basically, this huge, big, long paragraph saying why I think I could be a candidate going forward. And he replied at like 3am – I think he was in the US or somewhere – with his number at the bottom, and that we’d chat in the coming days.”

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He continued,  “For a solid six weeks, I was doing absolutely everything I can to try and secure myself in the seat.”

Alpine sporting director heaps praise on young Jack Doohan

Driving an F1 car at the tender age of 19, Jack Doohan has quickly climbed the pecking order at Alpine in his bid for a seat in the future. Moreover, the Aussie also impressed top officials at Alpine, including sporting director Alan Permane. Permane reckons Doohan’s character might prove to be an ace up the sleeve.

Permane said, “What impresses me most about Jack, honestly, is out of the car. His preparation, the work he does behind the scenes. He’d never driven here and there hadn’t been a plan for him to drive here.”

He further said, “And a few weeks ago, he was in Brisbane doing some F2 sponsor commitments, and we told him he was going to be driving in Mexico. He flew back to the UK, did a day in the sim, and then came onwards to Austin and here.”

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With the final round of the F2 championship coming up, Doohan will be looking to climb up the driver’s standing. Will Jack Doohan drive an F1 car in the future?