Jack Doohan's F1 debut cut short but still "fantastic"
Jack Doohan was beaming after taking part in free practice in Mexico City despite his run being cut short by a technical issue.
The Australian was due to run the full hour for Alpine as part of their junior driver commitments.
“It was a fantastic experience to drive in Free Practice 1 today, so thanks to Alpine for giving me that opportunity," said Doohan.
"I put in a lot of preparation for today including working with the engineers at Enstone and at the circuit as well as driving on the simulator."
"We had more running planned but, unfortunately, we had to stop early due to a small issue on the car."
Jack Doohan prepares for Free Practice in Mexico City. (Alpine)
An issue detected by the team meant Doohan had to retire from the session, setting the fastest time of 1:24.615 on hard tyres.
"These things happen in motorsport, but to drive 13 laps here on a Grand Prix weekend was an incredible experience and something I’ll remember forever."
"I’m looking forward to furthering my learning experience with the team this weekend where hopefully both Esteban and Fernando can score some points.”
Alpine team members were full of praise for Doohan.
“Jack did a great job today in his first official Formula 1 session," said Alan Permane, Alpine's Sporting Director.
"The track here in Mexico City is not easy to drive, especially on debut, and he certainly gave a good account of himself."
"Unfortunately, his session ended slightly early with a power unit issue but, during his running, he was very sensible, built up the speed lap by lap and gave us some good feedback."
"Thereafter, he observed a lot by just watching."
The 2021 FIA Formula 3 runner-up is expected to complete a second FP1 session in the following three races to complete Alpine's junior driver commitments.
