Doohan was thrown into the deep end after the team parted ways with Esteban Ocon after the Qatar Grand Prix.
A deal was struck such that the Frenchman was released early so he could test with Haas on Tuesday ahead of joining the team full-time in 2025.
That opened the door for reserve driver Doohan, who was himself set to be promoted to an F1 race seat for 2025, a race ahead of schedule.
A steady start in Abu Dhabi has seen the 21-year-old build into the weekend well, with progress throughout the three practice sessions.
That saw him all but match team-mate Pierre Gasly’s best lap in Free Practice 3.
“Honestly, I think he’s been doing well,” Gasly said of his new team-mate.
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“Obviously, it’s unfortunate, in the end in Q1,I think he had a bit of a poor out lap with the traffic and stuff which didn’t make it easy for him.”
Doohan found himself caught out by traffic ahead of his final run in qualifying.
He lost time and tyre temperature as the pack backed up in pit lane, and again towards the end of the gap as rivals worked to create space ahead of their flying laps.
By the time Doohan started his lap, the car had dropped out of its ideal operating window.
However, rather than dwelling on the negatives, he instead chose to focus on the learning opportunities in what was a baptism of fire.
“To jump into the last weekend, trying to get a feel for the car, and get it right, I think it was actually a pretty, pretty strong job,” Gasly insisted.
“Obviously, a target for him is to learn as much as possible for next season, but I think he’s done a good job.”
Doohan will take the start the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from 17th.
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