Jack Doohan lines up Super Formula campaign as Haas reserve talks gather pace
Jack Doohan is stitching together the sort of season that keeps a driver’s name on the F1 pit wall whiteboard. The Australian is expected to land a Super Formula seat in Japan and is in advanced talks to become Haas’s reserve driver — a pairing that would give him quality mileage now and a clear line of sight on a 2027 return to the grid.
Doohan’s split from Alpine was finally made formal last week, ending a stop-start chapter that never quite settled after his rapid elevation through the Enstone system. The timing was important. With Japan’s Super Formula calendar looming and teams finalising rosters, clearing the contractual undergrowth was the last hurdle before committing to full-time racing again.
And that’s the point here: seat time. Super Formula remains the closest thing to F1 in terms of performance and driving demands, and the category’s technical freedom gives drivers the engineering depth they’ll never fully get in junior single-seaters. It’s a serious discipline that’s welcomed plenty of F1 hopefuls and returnees, and Doohan’s already tested — strongly — at Suzuka.
There’s also the Japan factor. The Doohan name carries weight there thanks to Mick’s five 500cc world titles with Honda, and Jack’s prospective Super Formula deal would naturally strengthen ties with Toyota’s racing world. With the Japanese manufacturer a major force in WEC and increasingly present across elite single-seater paddocks, that’s a smart bit of career geometry. If an F1 route doesn’t open as hoped, the endurance door is right there.
The Haas piece, meanwhile, makes pragmatic sense for both sides. The American outfit’s race line-up is stable for 2025, and the team’s upward tilt through last season has bought it some flexibility. A ready-to-go reserve with modern mileage and recent testing experience is worth its weight on frantic Fridays and long-haul double-headers. Doohan’s body of work in older-spec F1 machinery drew solid internal comparisons at Alpine, and teams remember those things.
There are some technical wrinkles. Rookie FP1 quotas mean teams must run young drivers in practice at set points in the year, and that doesn’t dovetail perfectly with a reserve who’s already sampled grands prix. But it’s not a deal-breaker; squads now spread those rookie outings across academy prospects, simulator standouts and regional specialists without disrupting their primary programme.
What this isn’t, yet, is the rubber stamp on a race seat. The paddock expectation is sensible: plug into Haas as reserve, race in Japan to stay sharp, and let the market breathe. 2026 brings a rules reset; 2027 is when chairs can really start moving. If movement does come at Haas — and in this sport it always does, eventually — being the in-house known quantity is the place to be.
There’s also an intriguing Ferrari thread that could tug at the other end of this. Oliver Bearman’s rapid rise has brought Maranello’s spotlight with it, and whenever the Scuderia shuffles again over the next cycle, Haas — as ever — will be part of the ripple effect. That’s where a prepared, race-fit reserve becomes more than just a simulator stalwart.
Doohan’s camp is said to be calm about the path. At 22, he’s got room to manoeuvre and enough experience banked to be taken seriously. The Alpine adventure didn’t end the way he’d have drawn it up, but he kept his nose in the grindstone and delivered when called, and that still resonates with team bosses. The plan now is simple: race hard in Japan, immerse in an F1 team’s race-week rhythm, and be first in line when opportunity knocks.
It isn’t done until it’s done, but for all involved this configuration ticks a lot of boxes. Haas gets a polished, motivated reserve; Super Formula gains another headline name; Toyota’s ecosystem gains a driver it knows; and Doohan gets exactly what he needs in 2025 — a fast car to race, a factory to belong to, and a clear runway to a proper F1 comeback.
