Jack Doohan, the Australian driver, left boiling with rage after Alpine’s misstep led to his early exit from the Sprint qualifying at the Miami Grand Prix. The tension had been building up due to the presence of Franco Colapinto as Alpine’s reserve driver, putting Doohan’s position in the team in the spotlight.
Team principal Oliver Oakes had previously assured that Doohan would be behind the wheel in Imola, but the team’s decision-making came into question when Doohan was held up in the pit lane alongside teammate Pierre Gasly, ultimately costing him a chance to advance in the qualifying rounds.
“Doohan expressed his frustration over the team radio, stating, ‘That’s not acceptable. If you’re going to send him (Gasly) before me, you have to make sure he’s ready. I can’t turn out and have to turn in because he’s going to run into me. Then you put me out of Q1. That’s a joke,'” recounted the intense moment of disappointment.
Despite initially pointing fingers at the team, Doohan later admitted that the setback was partly self-inflicted. “It all comes down to the last flying lap, and I think we were [looking] good, feeling was good, and just ended up getting blocked on my way out of the pit lane, which was a mess up because it was from the other car. So then I wasn’t able to do a final timed lap,” shared Doohan.
The frustration lingered as Doohan reflected on the missed opportunity for a better performance. “First lap it was really, really messy, just trying a few things different from practice, and still it wasn’t too bad, and I think there was a lot more time in the car for the second lap. I guess we’ll never know though,” he lamented.
Despite the setback, Doohan sees a silver lining in the Sprint weekend format, providing him with another chance to improve his qualifying position on Saturday. “Just try to move forward as much as possible [in the Sprint],” he declared optimistically. “We have another shot at qualifying tomorrow afternoon. The Sprint’s gonna be a tough one; we just need to learn as much as we can from that for the main race and then focus on the main qualifying.”
Doohan’s rollercoaster of emotions and the drama at Alpine only add to the intensity of the Miami Grand Prix, promising an electrifying showdown on the racetrack.