Jack Doohan laughs when he’s asked what, exactly, he is these days. The job title on the pass says “reserve driver”, the calendar says “endurance racing”, and the last 12 months have taught him that Formula 1 can give you everything you’ve worked for — and then remove it with a phone call.
It’s a slightly different Doohan speaking now, not just because he’s wearing Haas colours for 2026, but because the Alpine experience has knocked a few hard edges off the old, single-track mindset.
“That dream” arrived, as he puts it, with a contract that was supposed to provide security. Instead it delivered a season of background noise that never really went away. Doohan had finished third in the 2023 Formula 2 championship, spent 2024 on the sidelines as Alpine’s reserve, and in August that year was announced as an Alpine race driver for 2025. Even then, whispers started almost immediately that his seat was less solid than it looked on paper.
He tried to treat it like paddock nonsense and get on with the job. Alpine even gave him a one-off start at the end of 2024, drafted in at Abu Dhabi to replace Esteban Ocon — already on his way to Haas. It wasn’t headline-grabbing, but it also wasn’t messy: 15th place, no drama, no damaged car. In a world where rookies can be judged on a single mistake, “kept it clean” is sometimes the best currency you’ve got.
By the time the class-of-2025 photos were taken at Albert Park, Doohan was in them, dressed for what he assumed would be his first full season. Six race weekends later, he was out.
Alpine’s decision-making had a familiar face at the centre of it. Flavio Briatore, effectively running the show, made the call to replace Doohan with Franco Colapinto on what was framed as a five-race audition. Colapinto didn’t score a point in that spell — but Briatore kept him in the car anyway. From Doohan’s side, the most frustrating part wasn’t just losing the seat; it was the way hope was drip-fed as the months went by.
“It was obviously strange times,” Doohan said on Fox Sports’ *Pit Talk* podcast. “It was a weird 12 months of achieving that dream, having a three-year contract — you’re never secure.
“You’re still an employee at the end of the day, even as a race driver. You’re still under contract.
“But I thought I was in a strong position, even with the noise that was going around and the press. I was head down and trying to do my job… I was quite content, and then it was quite a shock to the system.”
Doohan describes “a bit of a carrot” being dangled — new timelines, new possibilities, always close enough to feel real. The press had its own rolling set of deadlines: five races, the summer break, the final stretch of the season. Internally, Doohan says, it didn’t feel like a comeback was ever completely off the table until later.
“It was more around Zandvoort time… the end of the summer break, August, when I realised I wasn’t going to be hopping back in the car for that season,” he said. “And really had to see where the next steps were going to take me.”
Those next steps led him to Haas as reserve for 2026 — a move that makes sense on both sides. Haas gets a driver with recent experience of a modern F1 weekend and the motivation of someone who feels unfinished business; Doohan gets a foothold in the paddock without having to pretend he’s satisfied just holding a helmet.
He’s pretty blunt about that part, too.
“It’s quite important in the job title, certainly — being a racing driver and then actually racing!” he said, laughing. “Otherwise you’re just simply a reserve driver. You can’t classify yourself as a racing driver if you’re not racing.”
So he’s racing. Alongside the Haas commitment, Doohan is driving for Nielsen Racing in the European Le Mans Series, keeping the muscle memory alive and, just as importantly, keeping himself in the competitive headspace that F1 reserves can lose if they’re not careful. He recently finished 32nd overall at the 24 Hours of Le Mans — not the sort of stat that defines a career, but a sign he’s building a wider base than the one Alpine had him standing on.
And that’s the pivot in his outlook: he still wants back on the F1 grid, whether through Haas or anywhere else, but he’s no longer talking like it’s the only outcome that matters.
“It’s certainly a little bit different,” he explained. “It’s hard to explain, but I’m not, let’s say trying to force anything.
“Obviously it’s a slightly different position to what I have been before… where you’re really preaching and trying to get that opportunity.
“I’m just focusing exactly on what’s in my control, which is doing my best when I’m trackside, opportunities inside the car when they come, and apart from that, I’m not really over-analysing the outside noise…”
There’s an interesting tell in the way he frames it: “opportunities that will come into my control” but are still “a little bit outside my control”. It’s a neat way of describing modern F1 career management — you can be ready, you can be fast, you can be professional, and still find yourself waiting on a decision that has nothing to do with lap time.
“If I managed to get back into a car, that would be amazing,” Doohan said. “But I know there are a lot more things than normal that are playing as a factor… I’m not in the same place [as last year] where it’s the be-all and end-all.”
That reads less like a driver giving up and more like one refusing to be consumed by the circus again. In 2026, with Haas now his paddock home and endurance racing filling the gaps, Doohan’s bet is simple: stay sharp, stay visible, and be ready for the moment when the sport decides it needs him again.
