Doohan will start Sunday’s race 14th after a strong showing in the opening phase of the three-part qualifying session.

In the dying stages of Qualifying 2, the new Alpine recruit was in contention to progress through to the final phase before coming across Hamilton’s Ferrari on the exit of Turn 11 on his final flying lap.

The seven-time champion was left pointing the wrong way on exit of the right-hander at the end of Lakeside Drive.

With yellow flags waving, Doohan was forced to abort his lap, leaving him helpless to prevent being bundled out of the session.

“Q1 was strong. Q2 was looking strong as well,” Doohan said.

“We were confident for Q3, just got a bit unlucky with the yellow flag with Lewis.

“All in all, was looking very strong; even on that lap, we were two-tenths up before that happened.

“That was out of our control, so I think we did everything we could,” he added.

“We just have to turn our heads and look forward to tomorrow.”

Norris steals Australian GP pole from Piastri as McLaren unleashed

Doohan proved a good match for his Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly throughout practice.

The young Aussie bettered Gasly in both sessions on Friday and was less than three-tenths shy of the veteran in the final practice hour on Saturday.

Doohan was then quicker than his teammate in Qualifying 1 before being caught out by Hamilton.

“I backed out of the lap, but already before the chicane I had no DRS,” he explained.

“We were only two-tenths down on Oscar’s 15.4 at the end of Sector 2 even without DRS, so I think the lap was looking strong for a high 15.

“Once you have no DRS, these two straights, it’s at least six-tenths, and then I have [Hamilton] facing the other way.

“So, I backed out of the lap.

“The positives were we were slightly in front of Pierre on both runs,” he added.

“Not that that’s important, but it’s good confidence for myself.

“I think we’re in a good place for tomorrow.”

Sunday’s race is expected to be wet, with a strong chance of rain throughout the day, increasing around race-start time.

That promises an all-new experience for Doohan, who is yet to sample F1 machinery in the wet.

Despite that threat, Doohan has made no tweaks to his car set-up in anticipation.

“To be honest, we didn’t do anything for the rain,” he admitted.

“I’ll see tomorrow when we line up on the grid,” he added of the prospect of a wet race.

“It’ll be what it’ll be, and I’ll enjoy it regardless.”

The Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix begins at 15:00 AEDT tomorrow.