Sports
Alpine for finally clearing the clouds around their recruit as they announced the chosen on between Mick Schumacher and Jack Doohan
The F1 fans must thank Alpine for finally clearing the clouds around their recruit. Who would it be: Mick Schumacher or Jack Doohan? This question had been buzzing the paddock and beyond for months now. Ultimately, Flavio Briatore and his team found their hope in the Australian driver- Jack Doohan. The long years of effort and anticipation have finally bore the results, Doohan had been looking for.
This means, Mick Schumacher is out of the F1 picture once again. Sadly, the German driver has missed his shot at Alpine despite being their WEC driver. Moreover, reports suggested that Mick’s test drive results were impressive enough to get him a seat alongside Pierre Gasly. But it looks like his old friend Jack Doohan had the upper hand. But who is this young 21-year-old who snatched away an F1 seat with ease?
Australian native Jack Doohan will be Alpine’s reserve driver till the end of the 2024 F1 season. After this, he will replace Esteban Ocon and take over the tracks with all his might. Born on January 21, 2003, is the son of the Grand Prix motorcycle road racing world champion Mick Doohan. The Doohan family has been closely associated with the Schumacher family for years. Jack’s father, the legend of the 500cc motorcycle racing, and the Red Baron are long-time friends. It was from the 7x F1 champion that little Doohan received his first kart at the age of three.
He didn’t understand back then, but that gift proved to be pivotal in Jack Doohan’s racing career. However, it took a broken leg for a young Jack to realize his true calling. He was initially set to follow in his father’s footsteps on two wheels. But a dirt bike injury at just 5 years old pushed Jack Doohan away from motorcycles, turning him towards four-wheelers. This was a comparatively safer world for the kid, who eventually found his way into the dynamic world of speeding cars.
So much so that now, Jack Doohan has succeeded in removing the ‘reserve driver’ tag from himself. The Aussie is building up to debut at his home Grand Prix race, that is, at the Australian GP in 2025. With the entry of Doohan alongside Pierre Gasly, the French-owned racing team will be “a balance of youth and experience in its driver line-up geared towards building a successful future.” Given Alpine’s current scenario, maybe, Jack Doohan is the lantern of hope.
Having proved himself in the junior categories of motorsport, Doohan has shown that he is capable of capitalizing the efforts into wins. However, as per Flavio Briatore, his team will have to wait until 2027 to enjoy the thrill of standing on podiums. But, with a new driver in the squad, a fresh perspective has also joined, this could be beneficial in faster and multiple podiums. Now, let’s take a quick look at Jack Doohan’s career.
Being the son of the legendary Mick Doohan, expectations had always been a piece of baggage for Jack. However, the Australian rising star never gave up. It took Doohan some time to find his true calling, which was to choose between motorbikes and speeding cars. Ultimately, he picked Uncle Michael’s gifted kart and went down on the track. By 2015, Jack Doohan was already a junior Australian karting champion. He succeeded in backing up his title the following year with another title in a higher class.
In 2017, Jack was dipping his toe into European racing. He finished third in the CIK-FIA, European Championship by winning the Swedish Round. In this stage, many F1 drivers who are on the grid currently start getting recognition. Doohan too, found himself at the center of fame despite securing an overall third. Most experts had analyzed that the then-14-year-old would surely do great things in the future. Jack Doohan transitioned into one-seaters in 2018 and finished fourth in the British Formula 4 championships.
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The build-up to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix has been dominated by news off the track this week. Adrian Newey’s confirmed move to Aston Martin has sent shockwaves through F1, with speculation now rife that Max Verstappen could be following him through the door.
However, the Dutchman’s primary focus this week though will be maintaining his grip on the drivers’ championship. He is 62 points clear of Lando Norris, but with eight races to go the gap is closing with McLaren currently superior in pace.
The British team are also now just eight points behind Red Bull in the Constructors’ race. And the first indication of who will be superior this weekend will come at 10.30am BST, when FP1 gets underway in Baku.
Lewis Hamilton will be forced to start the Azerbaijan Grand Prix from the pit lane despite qualifying in seventh place.
After the session, a fifth power unit of the season was installed into Hamilton’s car, exceeding his allocated limit.
An extended DRS zone on the home straight will provide plenty of overtaking opportunities during the race
George Russell has admitted that he is not impressed with Mercedes reverting back to their old floor design in Baku.
“I qualified third last week on the new floor, qualified fourth in Zandvoort on the new floor, and I’ve qualified fifth today,” he said.
“It was a team decision and we were substantially off the pace in the race, but clearly, there was some performance in the car in qualifying the last two races.
“I think [it’s] probably validation that it’s not the floor that’s making the difference.”
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko believes a rare mistake from Max Verstappen cost him in qualifying.
The Dutchman will start from sixth on the grid and will line up behind team-mate Sergio Perez for the first time in 33 races.
“The positive is that we found speed again, although Max made a rare mistake at Turn 16,” reflected Marko.
“He lost six-tenths as a result, but without that mistake, a second place would have been really possible.”
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NASCAR is heading to its second race in the 2024 Cup Series playoffs. The next challenge for the 16 drivers is Watkins Glen International. In its first time hosting the playoffs, ‘The Glen’ will be more challenging this year. As NASCAR is introducing a new tire compound in the race. These new tires have a 3-second wear-off rate and are bound to make tire management a challenge for the drivers.
However, the tire wear will also make passing the cars easier on track. Hence, the race results won’t be heavily dependent on the qualifying position. This has Chase Elliott take a sigh of relief as he’s trying to forget his 2023 run on the track. According to the Hendrick Motorsports driver, the new tire compound will play a crucial role in the upcoming Watkins Glen race.
At the 2023 Watkins race, Elliot qualified 15th and only managed to climb up to 13th before his first pit stop. The early pit stop initially played a decent role in upping his track position as he progressed to 7th. However, the team tried to stretch their run by staying out. Eventually, Elliott was out of fuel and he finished in the 32nd position. And because it was tough to pass, he ended his run a lap down. This was Elliott’s worst career finish on the track. This is surprising because Elliott has been a dominant force in Watkins Glen. In the past five races, he’s won twice (2018,2019) and finished in the top 5 in the other two (2021, 2022).
Elliott, in the current qualifying, will be starting from 14th position, but that according to him won’t be a problem thanks to the new Goodyear tires. In the pre-race interview, he said, “I mean it was like you know if you didn’t qualify well you were just totally setting yourself up to fail and I think that has really been the case all the way up until all the way through last year. You know truthfully, and I think the only thing that could potentially change that would just be whether or not the tire falls off. You know if a tire actually has some fall of to it, then you know potentially you could. You can not have to qualify on the front row to have a shot to win.”
Well, Elliott’s hopes of passing everyone to victory are based on ifs and buts. However, Goodyear is certain of its claims. Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing, had previously said, “Based on our test and a subsequent WFT (wheelforce test) with the manufacturers, we should see around three seconds of fall-off per lap over a run. That, of course, can mean more passing throughout the race. It’s always tricky on road courses as drivers take advantage of a limited number of ‘passing zones’, so the increased fall-off should lead to more comers and goers as some drivers manage their tires and gain on the field as the runs go on.”
To test the new tire compound, teams were given two practice sessions this time, rather than a single one. After the two 20-minute sessions, the tire wear-off data came in. Most cars experienced at least two seconds of fall-off during a 10-lap run. This means that the race is going to get interesting. A high wear rate also means the car would be tricky to handle. Adding to the uncertainties, NASCAR has also made several changes to the track. Recently, NASCAR drivers voiced their concerns about the changes made.
After retiring from the Cup Series in 2017, Dale Earnhardt Jr has engaged in several ventures. One of them includes participating in the Xfinity Series in a limited capacity every year. For this year, Junior decided to compete at Bristol Motor Speedway in September. However, with strong rumors circulating that this might be his last Xfinity race participation, it has disappointed the fans.
It is no secret how the fans still adore Dale Earnhardt Jr. Despite his presence mainly seen in the broadcast booths and his podcast, the former Hendrick Motorsports driver remains a popular face in NASCAR. Last year, he raced at Bristol and was on course for an impressive finish. However, a fire on his #88 car spoiled everything.
Ever since his retirement, Dale Earnhardt Jr preferred to compete in select races in the Xfinity Series. Normally, he tends to race at short tracks like Martinsville Speedway, Richmond Raceway, Darlington Raceway, and Homestead-Miami Speedway. While he ran two races last year, this year it will be only at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Last year, while driving his #88 Chevrolet Camaro, Dale Jr looked in a good position to win the race. Having led 47 laps, he could have gone all the way had smoke not filled his cockpit. Unfortunately, despite being close to an impressive finish, he finished P30 because the shifter tunnel column caught fire and burned the bottom of his uniform.
That said, he will be back at Bristol this year to make amends. Having competed in at least one race in the Xfinity Series since 2001, Dale Earnhardt Jr will race the same car as last year. While he confirmed it through a social media post, he clarified that the car is totally stripped and rebuilt. It is worth noting that the car will be sponsored by longtime partner Hellmann’s.
There is no doubt that Dale Jr loves racing but considering his comments in June earlier this year, it feels this might be his last race in the Xfinity Series. Back then, he said, “I don’t really share this publicly — but every year, I pretty much feel like it could be my last. I’m going into this race at Bristol this year knowing that it might be the last one I run. There’s nothing that really makes that decision. It’s just last year was a lot of fun, led some laps. But it is a big commitment.”
Interestingly, Dale Earnhardt Jr competing at Bristol next weekend will be his 147th Xfinity Series start. While he has enjoyed a victory both in the Cup Series and the Xfinity Series at the half-mile track, he would love to secure his 25th Xfinity win next week. A win or not, Junior’s fans would be delighted to see him back on the track. However, they seem to be disheartened knowing that this could be the last they could see him on a NASCAR track.
