Speaking to Sky Sports F1 during first practice for the Monaco Grand Prix, Doohan reflected on life since joining Haas as a test and reserve driver after losing his Alpine race seat at the beginning of the 2025 season.
The 23-year-old has spent 2026 embedded with the American squad, supporting race drivers Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman while waiting for opportunities to get back behind the wheel of a F1 car.
Although his focus remained on F1, Doohan admitted time is a key factor in his hopes of returning to the grid.
“Yeah. It’s certainly is. And I think that’s the goal for next year,” he said when asked if getting back into a full-time race seat was still the objective.
“You’d be a little bit silly to think that if it doesn’t happen for 2027 it’s not going to happen unless some insane things happen.
“So the focus is to put myself in a position to get in the car for next year.
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“And if that doesn’t happen, then there’ll be some great opportunities to continue having a good race career in some fun cars.”
Doohan arrived at Haas at the start of 2026 after a difficult end to his time at Alpine.
Having made his grand prix debut in the 2024 Abu Dhabi season finale, he started the opening six races of the 2025 campaign before being replaced by Franco Colapinto after Miami.
Earlier this year, Doohan revealed he believed the decision to remove him from the Alpine seat had effectively been made before the 2025 season even began, describing the situation as “a little bit more brutal” given the circumstances surrounding his exit.
And while F1 remained his long-term target, Doohan is also preparing for a major endurance racing milestone.
The Australian will make his Le Mans debut next weekend with Nielsen Racing in the LMP2 category, combining the appearance with his European Le Mans Series commitments.
“Yeah it’ll be a really cool race,” Doohan said.
“Great to be able to be here, and the team on both sides allow for me to be able to do that.”
Doohan admitted he is still adapting to endurance racing after only a handful of months in the category, highlighting driver changes and long stints as some of the biggest adjustments.
“I’m very fresh to it. It’s only four months in,” he explained.
“Completely different. Especially on those positions to be firm before you go out and hit the brake pedal for the first time.
“But I’m looking forward to driving in the middle of the night. I think I might have a total stint up towards 12 hours over the duration. So it’s going to be long.
“But I’m looking forward to the night driving. Early morning. Just locking into a three-hour stint and getting after it. It’s super exciting.”
Doohan also revealed he has yet to drive Haas F1 machinery in his reserve role, with existing plans already in place when he joined the operation in February.
“None yet. So far not much,” he said when asked about his track running.
“Obviously full focus has been on the main race team. And also when you join into a new program mid-February, with another reserve driver by Rio [Hirakawa] already being involved in the team, things are allocated quite well in advance.
“So I will be getting into the car soon, which will be very nice.
“But to just be at the race, actually, anything, just proves the sticker to my name that I am a racing driver.”
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