Jack Doohan will drive for Alpine in FP1 this weekend, taking Esteban Ocon’s car for the session. The timing of this development is curious, to say the least. It comes just days after the team announced that 2024 will be Ocon’s final year at Enstone. Regardless, Doohan will have a chance to impress in Canada, with momentum on his side for a 2025 seat.
The headlines surrounding Alpine over the last two weeks have been dominated by controversy.
Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly’s Monaco incident and its subsequent fallout have been the talk of the town.
The “consequences” promised by team principal Bruno Famin (followed by the social media backlash) snowballed into something much bigger. Tensions that were already present in the team were blown out of proportion. Ocon’s departure, revealed two days ago, was the final nail in the coffin.
Although the 27-year-old has been negotiating with other teams for some time, the speed at which relations have deteriorated is unprecedented.
Alpine shine the spotlight on Jack Doohan
However, another important storyline from the Monaco GP has been overlooked. After Friday practice, the A524 was struggling with performance. A double Q1 exit was a realistic possibility for the French outfit.
This all changed overnight, thanks to Jack Doohan’s extensive simulator work. The Australian’s work was essential in rescuing the A524’s set-up and, ultimately, contributing to the points Pierre Gasly secured on Sunday.
Alpine paid tribute to the 21-year-old’s contribution in an article on their website. Curiously, this excerpt was released on the same day that Ocon’s departure was announced:
“Reserve driver Jack Doohan put in a Herculean effort in the Enstone simulator as a key part of the efforts to hone the set-up of the A524, working into the early hours of Saturday morning before flying back to Monaco.
“It paid off with an improved performance in FP3 and then Qualifying.
“Jack travels with the team to all the races in his reserve role, but in Europe, he is able to work at Enstone on Friday before heading to the circuits for Saturday, where he is on standby in case he has to jump into the car.”
The next few weeks will be filled with different narratives across the F1 driver market. With that said, it is difficult to imagine a more dramatic chain of events than those transpiring at Alpine.
Doohan will be under pressure to avoid any errors and execute a clean FP1 session in the A524. Meanwhile, the evolution of Ocon’s relationship with the team will be intriguing to observe in the remaining events.
