Fernando Alonso continues to defy his age as he extends his racing career into a third decade, but even the famously fortitudinous Spaniard must have felt at least a little old when Jack Doohan walked into his driver room on Friday afternoon.
Doohan, just 19 years old, wanted some technical advice ahead of his first appearance in an official Formula 1 session, so he went to the man with, in his case, more than a lifetime of experience to share.
“Fernando‘s been on the F1 grid since I’ve been born,” Doohan told select media, including Fox Sports, with a grin. “I’ve basically been watching him since I’ve been alive, so it was something really special.”
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Doohan was born in 1993. Alonso’s F1 debut predates him by two years.
Their chat was brief in the always-busy build-up to the first session of a race weekend, but it was the first of several pinch-me moments as the Gold Coast native took his place at the pinnacle of world motorsport, if only for one hour.
“We had our program meeting, which was for 15 minutes, and then went straight into the warm-up,” he said. “And then at 12:35 I had 10 minutes before hopping into the car where everything was slowly starting to sink in.
“I couldn‘t shake the smile off my face, as I knew what was about to really happen.
“I was realising I was going to be participating in an FP1 session on a Formula 1 grand prix weekend with people that I‘ve been [watching for years].
“It was something super cool.
“Then having the engineers come over the radio and say, ‘We’ve got to let by Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, they’re two seconds back’, is something at the time that was just obviously normal, but when post-session you think about it, it’s obviously very cool.”
There’s a lot of pressure on rookies when they get their limited shots in F1 machinery on a grand prix weekend.
On the one hand they want to maximise their chance to show the team — and the other teams watching on — what they’re capable of, that they belong on the grand prix grid. Banging in some fast laps is always tempting for young guns with a point to prove.
But on the other they have a responsibility to the team to execute a practice program — particularly important in Mexico, where FP2 was sacrificed for a Pirelli tyre test. While the times might not look flashy, it can be more effective in endearing yourself to the engineers who have some direct influence on your future.
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Not to mention the damage you’d do to your reputation by bringing the car back on a truck rather than under its own power — something even the best of drivers can fall foul of, as Charles Leclerc managed in FP2.
“The biggest thing is that we‘re at 2200 metres altitude here and we have the equivalent downforce of Monaco on the car but we’re only getting, due to the air, less than what you would run at Monza,” Doohan said of his experience.
“Mixed in with the slippery track conditions, it‘s quite a handful.
“I was for sure pushing in slow-speed [corners] to an extent — still not obviously at a limit that I would go to if I was competing for the weekend.
“And then in the faster sector 2, where obviously there‘s a bit more risk to take — especially the last turn with the wall right at the exit, where you overheat the rears coming out — I was definitely taking extra caution just to ensure that I brought the home.
“Trying to take the maximum in the high speed and especially the last turn wasn‘t the aim. That wasn’t going to help the team going forward.
“So as long as they had a rough idea of how much [speed] we were keeping them in the pocket there.”
Unfortunately his afternoon came to a premature end after only 13 laps thanks to a power unit problem — the engine eventually had to be switched out of the car for an older one before Esteban Ocon got back in the cockpit for FP2 — but even in that brief time he’d done enough to tick the boxes.
“Jack did a great job today,” sporting director Alan Permane said. “He certainly gave a good account of himself.
“During his running he was very sensible, built up the speed lap by lap and gave us some good feedback.
“Thereafter he observed a lot by just watching.”
And Doohan was eager to make the most of that time as well.
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The Aussie joined the Alpine driver program only this year and up until August was behind compatriot Oscar Piastri in seniority as the team’s protégé.
But with Piastri moving to the exit for a debut with McLaren next year, this was Doohan’s first big opportunity to engage fully with the team on a race weekend, and he soaked it in.
“It was really cool not just observing but also doing the practice to then having a look,” he said.
“It was very cool to be able to participate in FP1 and then sit at the centre console in the garage in FP2 and have the on-board and the data available and see what [Alonso and Ocon] were doing differently and watching that live knowing that I was obviously driving in the session and doing things as well.
“Being embedded with the team and taking everything on, from actually being a part of the meeting in FP1 this morning to then sitting in on the meeting in FP2 — that‘s kind of my position, to be following the team and taking everything in and learning as much as possible to help the team.”
Doohan will get a second practice run at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
