Doohan plays it cool after perfect start at Australian GP

The Alpine rookie ended the day 14th fastest, just under a second off Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who ended the day on top.

More notable however was that Doohan had the measure of his Alpine teammate, Pierre Gasly.

The experienced Frenchman finished Free Practice 2 one place further back than Doohan, having been four places behind the young Aussie in opening practice.

Of the six rookies in the field, Doohan was the only one to finish the day higher than his teammate in the standings.

“It was not too bad,” he said of the day.

“We’re constantly trying things across both cars, so who’s faster than who? It’s really not a priority at the moment.

“We’re both testing, trying to maximise our package for tomorrow.

“Pierre is super quick, comfortable in this car, so we’re not really focusing so much on our lap time, just really building our balance and making sure that we’re in a good place.”

Doohan highlights need for strong start to 2025

Alpine ended testing in impressive fashion, raising expectations heading into 2025 after a dismal start a year ago.

But exactly where the Enstone operation stacks up this weekend remains unclear.

While Leclerc was fastest, his best lap came on a set of medium tyres, while Yuki Tsunoda in fourth suggests the pace at the top of the timesheets will get far hotter come qualifying.

Even still, with 101 laps between Doohan and Gasly, it was a fruitful day for Alpine.

“It’s a constant day of learning,” Doohan said.

“The cars ran well, both sessions; Pierre and I maximised our running with the conditions that we got, and we’ll continue discussing what we can do for tomorrow morning.

“A few little tweaks hopefully in FP3 to set ourselves in a good position for quali.”

Piastri and Lawson make uncompromising Doohan appraisal

This weekend’s Australian Grand Prix will mark Doohan’s second F1 start, and his first in front of a home crowd.

It’s an experience the 22-year-old afforded himself a moment to enjoy.

“It was great the first few laps with my home crowd in Formula 1 car, it was amazing,” he admitted.

“Some great emotions, but channelling those; [I’m] going to enjoy those when they happen naturally but focusing on the job at hand.”

Doohan will return to the Albert Park circuit for Free Practice 3 at 12:30 AEDT on Saturday ahead of the first qualifying session of the season from 16:00 AEDT.