Doohan is set to make his first Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix appearance this weekend in Albert Park with Alpine.
He does so against an undercurrent of speculation that he is poised to be replaced by Franco Colapinto with suggestions the Australian will be ousted at the first opportunity in favour of the ex-Williams racer.
While not rejected in as many words, Alpine has thrown its support behind Doohan both as a team and with comments from team principal Oliver Oakes.
Doohan has found support among his peers too, with both Piastri and Lawson backing the 22-year-old.
“It’s always nice to have a fellow Aussie on the grid,” Piastri said.
“I think Jack very much deserves [to be in F1].
“He had a lot of success in his junior career. I know the challenges he’s probably had in the last year of sitting on the sidelines; it’s never an easy thing to come back into a race seat again when you’ve spent so much time out of a seat.
“Time is going to be an important thing, and trying to learn,” he added.
“But it’s always great to have another Aussie and I think Jack has proved through his junior career that he deserves a chance, so it’s nice to see him again.”
Doohan spent last year focusing his efforts on his reserve driver role with Alpine.
It followed a two-year stint in Formula 2, during which he won six races and competed against Lawson. The pair also shared the track while racing in F3 in 2020.
“Jack totally deserves to be here,” Lawson told selected media, including Speedcafe.
“He’s obviously been successful in the junior ranks, but he’s very similar to me in that you don’t have to win F2, or win one of those championships to prove yourself.
“He’s somebody that, especially in F1, the testing that he’s done, from what I understand, he’s been very, very strong.
“I think he deserves to be here. I hope he doesn’t feel that pressure too much and just tries to enjoy it.”
For his part, Doohan insists he’s not given the Colapinto speculation any thought.
“There’s no point thinking about rumours or commenting on them,” he reasoned.
“But you know, I have a contract for at least this year, if not more. So you know, I look forward to many home grand prix.
“The uncertainties, you don’t bother worrying about them anyway. I think I have to perform each and every time I’m in the car, regardless if I have one guy chasing my seat.
“We actually have four now. If you didn’t realise, we have four reserve drivers. All four of them, not just Franco, probably wants my seat – if not Pierre’s as well. I wanted their seats while I was reserve driver the last two years.
“So I’m ging to enjoy every race as if it’s my last because I want to enjoy each and every moment as I’m always in the car.”
While Doohan will pull on his race suit for Sunday’s race, Colapinto will watch on from the Alpine garage as he performs his reserve driver duties.
However, as one of four reserve drivers, Colapinto will not attend every race and will at point be designated simulator duties over a race weekend – a task being performed by Paul Aron this weekend.
Discussion about this post