Jack Doohan is one of the most talented young drivers on the ladder to Formula 1, so here is everything that you need to know about the current reserve driver for Alpine.
The Australian is one of the latest gifted racers from down under now striving to get into the pinnacle of motorsport. Doohan has shown promise throughout his career to earn the eye of some of the top Formula 1 teams, having been a Red Bull junior driver before joining Alpine.
Doohan was a member of the Red Bull driver academy from 2017 to 2021 before leaving the programme for Alpine. He also has motorsport running through his veins but chose to chase a career on four wheels rather than replicate his MotoGP legend dad, Mick Doohan, on two.
Jack Doohan joined Alpine’s driver development programme in 2022
Yet while Doohan chose to pursue a career on four wheels, he did not start racing until 2011 and actually started on two wheels. While his dad did not influence Doohan’s decision, their family home was littered with bikes and dirt bikes. So, he started riding as soon as he could.
Doohan even attended his school’s careers day aged five wearing racing gear from his head to toes. But he made a switch to four wheels a few years later, and even started competing in the 2012 season. Doohan debuted in the TaG Cadet class of the SKUSA SuperNationals.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Alpine F1 Team from team principal to lineage
Success was slow at first but Doohan finally lifted a championship title in 2015 when he won the KA Junior class in the Australian Kart Championship. He even lifted the KA2 class title in 2016 whilst intensifying his schedule to include European and international championships.
His European karting career peaked with his third-place finish in the 2017 CIK-FIA European Championship. Doohan won three of the final four races that year – including two qualifying heats. But it was enough to move into single-seaters with a seat on the 2018 British F4 grid.
Red Bull signed Jack Doohan ahead of his single-seater debut in British F4
Doohan also secured backing from Red Bull in September 2017 and showed why with three wins in his first year in British F4. His fifth-place championship finish also preceded a step up to the Formula 3 level, in which he even finished the Asian Championship as the runner-up.
Another silver medal in the F3 Asian Championship followed in the 2019/20 edition but the son of racing royalty broke into the FIA F3 Championship in 2020. His rookie year on the F1 bill saw Doohan get 26th in the standings but a move to Trident took him to second in 2021.
Trident got the best out of Doohan as he took his maiden win on the Formula 1 schedule at the French GP round. Two wins during the Belgian GP round and one at the season-finale in Russia saw Doohan end the year as Dennis Hauger’s nearest challenger and graduate to F2.
Jack Doohan left Red Bull for Alpine after feeling at home straight away
MP Motorsport even ran Doohan over the final three rounds of the 2021 Formula 2 season. Yet he signed for Virtuosi Racing for 2022 after Doohan left the Red Bull stable for Alpine. It took him until the British GP to become a race-winner in Formula 2 after a podium in Spain.
Wins were rarely on the cards in 2023 after a slow start with six non-points-scoring finishes in 10 races. But victories at the Hungarian GP, Belgian GP and Abu Dhabi GP rounds ensured Doohan took third place. He finished 35 points off Theo Pourchaire and 24 to Frederik Vesti.
Alpine first approached Doohan about joining their driver academy in September 2021. But it was not until October 2021 that the Australian agreed to join the Renault-owned F1 team. He was set to stay with Red Bull for 2022 but felt right at home with Alpine during a factory tour.
Doohan agreed with Alpine that the Australian would spend the 2024 Formula 1 season only as the team’s reserve driver over landing a full-time race seat in another championship. The Renault-owned team felt a year in the garage would better prepare him for a future F1 seat.
Who is Jack Doohan? Is he related to Mick Doohan?
Jack Doohan is a racing driver currently working as the reserve driver for Alpine for the 2024 Formula 1 season. He is also the son of MotoGP royalty, Mick Doohan, who five 500cc World Championship titles from 1994 to ‘98 for Honda before retiring in 1999 after several injuries.
How old is Jack Doohan? What is the Alpine reserve driver’s age?
At the time of writing, Alpine reserve driver Jack Doohan is 21 years old. He was born on the 20th of January, 2003 to his parents, father Mick Doohan and mum Selina Sines. His parents got married in April 2006 and also have a daughter, Allexis, who is three years Jack’s elder.
Where was Jack Doohan born?
Jack Doohan was born in the city of the Gold Coast, Queensland, located on Australia’s east coast one hour south of Brisbane. It is a famous surf city known for its sandy beaches and is a leading tourist spot in Australia. The Gold Coast recorded a population of 625,087 in 2021.
How tall is Jack Doohan? What is his height in feet?
Standing at a height of 183 cm, Jack Doohan measures in at 6 ft 0 in feet.
How good is Jack Doohan? What’s been said about him?
While Jack Doohan does not boast a lengthy list of karting or junior single-seater titles, he is a highly promising young driver. He also excels on high-speed tracks after developing a clear strength around fast corners in his youth after Doohan accepted he was over-driving the car.
The wins that Doohan did register through his Formula 2 career also left a big impression on Esteban Ocon. He is certain that the Australian has the talent to warrant at least a chance as a Formula 1 driver. The Frenchman also respects what Doohan delivers in Alpine’s simulator.
“We’ve seen some good stuff from the F2 guys recently and, obviously, Jack has driven with them and won races,” Ocon told Speedcafe in 2024. “No doubt that Jack deserves to drive more in Formula 1, deserves to have a shot at least in F1 in one race.
“He’s obviously helping a lot with the simulator work that he’s doing with the team and he’s a great asset to us, and a great character and team player, as well. He’s done some really good work when he stepped in in FP1s in Mexico and Abu Dhabi in the last two years.”
Alpine handed Doohan his Formula 1 weekend debut with an FP1 outing at the 2022 Mexico City GP. His efforts in practice despite multiple red flags also impressed former Alpine team principal, Otmar Szafnauer. Doohan’s FP1 debut also ended early due to a machinal failure.
“He’s a very solid young man, I think very quick,” Szafnauer said, via Race Fans in 2022. “He had 13 laps in our car and he showed that in the 13 he got up to speed very quickly.
“But most importantly, we told him beforehand, ‘Just drive within yourself, don’t go 10-tenths’. And he didn’t. So, the lap time that you saw, he was driving within himself, did exactly what we asked. His preparation was exemplary going in. He is a good kid.”
What is Jack Doohan’s helmet design?
Jack Doohan includes nods to his home country, Australia, and his dad, Mick Doohan, in the design of his helmet. The racer has even kept with the same base design since his British F4 days. Doohan had to tweak its design in 2018 after joining Red Bull’s young driver academy.
Miles Murphy of MDM Designs and Doohan worked together to modernise a helmet design featuring nods to Mick Doohan’s helmet with Red Bull branding. Changing the Red Bull logo for Alpine branding was also the only major change that he made with its design from 2022.
Doohan told the Formula 2 website in January 2022: “The base of the design is quite simple. But in certain sunlight from afar you can really see the blue, white and red and it stands out, even though there isn’t too much going on. I like that it isn’t too crowded.
“The design is known from my dad’s legacy, it relates to the Doohan name and I’m very happy to carry that into my career. There is the Aussie flag on there, too.
“We needed to make sure people could see the stars, though, as otherwise people might think I’m a Brit and that can’t happen because I’m a proper Aussie! With the Aussie flag and my dad’s design, it certainly isn’t just any random design that has been whipped together.”
Michael Schumacher gave Jack Doohan his first go-kart
While Jack Doohan did not follow his father down the two-wheel route, Mick Doohan being a five-time MotoGP champion did have its benefit for the Australian in his youth. Seven-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher even gifted Jack his first go-kart as a close friend of Mick.
“I was fortunate enough that he was a family friend from a young age,” Doohan told the F3 website in 2021. “Michael used to visit us in Australia occasionally and stay with us because my dad and him were friends. They lived next door to each other in Monaco at one point.
“Michael gave me and my sister our first go-kart when we were three. Given everything he has accomplished and his whole mentality, he is someone who I look up to massively.”
Meet Jack Doohan’s girlfriend, Ebony Zippora Gold
Jack Doohan is in a long-term relationship with his girlfriend, Ebony Zippora Gold. But they tend to keep their relationship out of the public eye. It is also unclear when the couple first met. But they have made fleeting public appearances together since at least January 2022.
Jack Doohan’s junior single-seater career stats
Jack Doohan and Alpine agreed that the Australian would spend the 2024 season solely as their Formula 1 reserve driver after fighting for the Formula 2 title in 2023. He never won a junior single-seater title in his racing career but fought for various Formula 3 and F2 titles.
2018 British F4: 30 races, 3 wins, 0 poles, 12 podiums
2018 ADAC F4: 8 races, 0 wins, 0 poles, 0 podiums
2018 Italian F4: 6 races, 0 wins, 0 poles, 0 podiums
2018/19 MRF Challenge Formula 2000: 5 races, 0 wins, 0 poles, 2 podiums
2019 Euroformula Open Championship: 16 races, 0 wins, 0 poles, 2 podiums
2019 F3 Asian Championship: 15 races, 5 wins, 1 pole, 13 podiums
2019 F3 Asian Winter Championship: 3 races, 0 wins, 0 poles, 2 podiums
2019/20 F3 Asian Championship: 15 races, 5 wins, 4 poles, 10 podiums
2020 FIA Formula 3: 18 races, 0 wins, 0 poles, 0 podiums
2021 FIA Formula 3: 20 races, 4 wins, 2 poles, 7 podiums
2021 FIA Formula 2: 6 races, 0 wins, 0 poles, 0 podiums
2022 FIA Formula 2: 28 races, 3 wins, 3 poles, 6 podiums
2023 FIA Formula 2: 25 races, 3 wins, 2 poles, 5 podiums
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