Jack Doohan has revealed his determination to return to Formula 1, as the Australian prepares for his first experience of sportscar racing.
The former Alpine driver was released by the Enstone-based squad upon the conclusion of the 2025 season, having completed just six Grands Prix – as well as the 2024 finale – before being replaced by Franco Colapinto.
Doohan appeared to be in a career wilderness, emphasised further by missing out on a drive in the Japanese Super Formula series, having crashed thrice in three days in a test at Suzuka.
But then came the unexpected announcement that he would be reserve driver for Haas this year, giving him a career reprieve.
And along with that, Doohan is now confirmed to be racing in the European Le Mans Series, competing for Nielsen Racing in the LMP2 category.
Speaking to RACER ahead of his debut, Doohan revealed that he cannot wait to get behind the wheel and begin this new venture.
“It’s all excitement for me,” he said. “There’s not much nervous anticipation. If I wasn’t prepared, I would say so.
“I think when preparation is done correctly, there are nerves associated with excitement and the unexpected. But regarding the aspects in my control, I think the nerves are okay.
“There will be the factor of doing my first live driver change, there are firsts coming from F1 and F2, but I feel quite good.
“I haven’t raced in almost a year, and within that time, I wasn’t able to drive a car either. It’s a long time to be outside a car, not just racing but driving.”
“Before my seven races with Alpine, I’d also not raced in the year prior, in 2024 [apart from the F1 season finale in Abu Dhabi]. There’s been a gap, so it’s important to do this to get race fit and build up consistency again.”
Jack Doohan in a strong position with ‘foot in the F1 door’ and sportscar options
Doohan continued that he feels that he is in a good position right now, as he has his Haas role balanced with his new LMP2 drive, and believes that the former is giving him a strong opportunity to race in F1 again.
“I definitely don’t rule it [sports car racing] out, and there’s been some great opportunities to be in sports cars,” he added.
“But transparently, Formula 1 is the ultimate goal, and right now there’s still a good opportunity, not just a hope in the air. There’s still a foot in the door.
“However, if that wasn’t the case, this would be a nice focus — you can have a great career in sports cars.”
Doohan certainly seems much happier right now, having been ostracised by Alpine and left in the shadows.
His confidence cannot be faulted, and there was enough to show that he was approximately at the level of Colapinto, so why count him out?
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