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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A former Ferrari engineer has criticised the decision to bring in Lewis Hamilton and thinks the Brit’s presence will mean “a lot of potential for drama”.
At the age of 40, seven-time Formula 1 champion Hamilton will form a formidable driver partnership with Charles Leclerc. His big switch comes at the expense of Carlos Sainz, who has performed well for the Italian squad but who was axed so they had room for their blockbuster new signing.
But not everyone of a Ferrari persuasion is convinced that it will go well. Ernest Knoors, who spent many years as an engineer at Maranello, specialising in power units, worries that Hamilton’s presence could do more harm than good for a team that is finding its groove under Frederic Vasseur.
“A big name like Hamilton also brings a lot of politics and if politics within Ferrari are not managed well, then there is a lot of potential for drama,” he told Formule1.nl. “Hamilton has the tendency that if things do not work out, he turns his whole car upside down and starts experimenting.
“Ferrari believes very much in the big personalities and will follow him. But Hamilton is just someone you have to guide a little bit and not give the freedom to rebuild the whole car, because then it will go completely wrong. So I do not know if it is such a smart move, but of course it is nice for the sport.”
News of Hamilton’s planned move broke on February 1, coinciding with football’s Transfer Deadline Day. That the back pages of many newspapers were dominated by the decision of Hamilton to swap Mercedes for Ferrari was testament to the magnitude of the announcement.
Sainz was not surprised as he had been informed by his team of the plan ahead of it being made public. But the Spaniard responded well with two victories to date this season and five further appearances on the podium, on the way to what looks likely to be a fifth-placed finish in the championship – two spots and 54 points ahead of Hamilton.
Sainz has signed for Williams next year and, after several years of running at the front of the grid, will focus on his new challenge of helping restore one of the grid’s most historic teams to its former glory. But Knoors believes he should have been kept on by Ferrari instead.
The Dutchman added: “I see Lewis Hamilton’s arrival at Ferrari more as a PR move. With all due respect, Hamilton is not going to take that Ferrari from P6 to P1. He will get the most out of it, but what Ferrari has to do is make that car faster. And if you make that car faster, you can easily drive at the front with the current line-up.
“Besides, as a team you have to look further on the horizon. If Hamilton becomes champion in the coming years, he and Ferrari will become immortal. But if you want to build a team with talent for the next five years, are you going to build on Hamilton? No, because he will really be finished after two or three years. That is why I would have kept the very strong line-up that Ferrari has now.”
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Chase Elliott had a front-row seat for one of NASCAR’s most bizarre moments of the 2024 Cup Series season. At the start of Stage 2, the pace car dove onto pit road in front of Elliott; however, it was a tad too late. The pace car made contact with the sand barrels at the entry of pit road and caused a red flag for cleanup.
Initially, there was some speculation on the NBC Sports broadcast, even from the No. 9 team, that Elliott made contact with the pace car. Fortunately, the pace car didn’t slide across the No. 9 car’s nose, but it undoubtedly provided one of NASCAR’s craziest red flag moments in recent memory.
Below, you can listen to Elliott and the No. 9 team react to the pace car crashing into the sand barrels on pit road at Phoenix during Championship Weekend!
Reflecting on the recent retirement of 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr., Earnhardt didn’t mince words about the toll NASCAR takes on its drivers. Speaking candidly, the two-time Daytona 500 winner admitted that the pressure to perform every week left him feeling miserable for most of his racing career—a sentiment he believes is shared by many of his peers.
“Right or wrong, racing made me a miserable person 90% of the time,” Earnhardt confessed. “And him too. I mean, ask Kyle Busch, ask anybody—unless you’re winning, you’re not happy.”
For these elite drivers, the sport is a relentless grind. A podium finish might bring temporary relief, but anything short of victory is often a source of frustration. The immense effort poured into preparation and execution rarely feels like it pays off unless the checkered flag is theirs.
Earnhardt highlighted the mental toll of falling short, explaining how the relentless focus on winning can overshadow the joy of simply competing. Even a solid performance feels hollow compared to the euphoria of a win.
“Unless you’re winning, you’re not happy at all,” he said. “You’re okay with a good run, but for the most part, all the effort it takes just to run good—it doesn’t weigh out.”
For drivers, the stakes are sky-high every week. Sponsors, fans, and teams demand nothing less than excellence, leaving little room for error or personal satisfaction in anything less than a dominant performance.
Earnhardt also shared insights into his friendship with Martin Truex Jr., who recently announced his retirement. While the two often spend time hunting together during NASCAR’s off-season, Earnhardt noted that the stress of racing even creeps into their leisure activities.
“When I’m with him during hunting season, it’s always in the back of his mind,” Earnhardt said. “It’s that stressful part of the year when he’s as miserable as he’s going to be.”
Now, with Truex stepping away from the track, Earnhardt looks forward to seeing a lighter, happier version of his long-time friend. Without the weight of weekly competition hanging over him, Truex might finally be able to relax and enjoy the outdoor lifestyle he cherishes.
“It’ll be fun to see him loosen up,” Earnhardt added.
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