Alpine driver said 'no' to move to US IndyCar
F1 News
- Ludo van Denderen
Jack Doohan had grand ambitions: to win the championship in Formula 2 in 2023, before making the move to Formula 1. It all turned out differently: the son of motorsport legend Mick had a very poor start to the season, could never claim the title, and a place in F1 did not materialise either.
At the moment, it does not look like Doohan will be in action during races in 2024. The Australian has opted not to return to F2 and focus entirely on his testing and reserve role at Alpine. "At the moment, I don’t have anything set to race," he confirmed to Speedcafe. "Had quite a lot of options and in all sub formulas and inside formulas other than Formula 1."
No Schumacher teammate
Doohan continued, "So not that the opportunities were shy – Super Formula, IndyCar, Hypercar [WEC], whatever it was – I was very fortunate to have those options. However, at this point in time, I feel it’s crucial that I focus only on Formula 1, which is heavily provided by Alpine that I’m able to stay within a car."
Alpine had wanted to place Doohan in their own WEC team, making Doohan Mick Schumacher's teammate. Doohan (20) also passed up this option. Schumacher will remain a test and reserve driver at Mercedes' F1 team for another season. If Lewis Hamilton or George Russell have to drop out, Schumacher will return to F1 as a substitute.