Alpine make decision on Doohan seat

Jack Doohan seems set to see out his rookie F1 season with Alpine, RacingNews365 understands.

Doohan came into this season as a man under pressure following Alpine's decision to sign Franco Colapinto to its reserve roster.

Before a wheel had turned in pre-season testing, there was speculation of a clause in Doohan's contract that the team could move him aside for Colapinto should he fail to perform over the first five or six grands prix.

Although Doohan remains in his 'trial period', it is understood Alpine is to keep faith with the Australian.

The 22-year-old driver has made a strong impression at Alpine, 

Except for his shocking crash in the second free practice session ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, the 22-year-old has made a strong impression at Alpine.

Doohan has so far developed a harmonious relationship with team-mate Pierre Gasly, whilst team principal Oliver Oakes can see his young driver's confidence starting to grow.

Doohan narrowly missed out on a place in Q3 for the Bahrain Grand Prix by 0.017s, and was on the brink of a points finish only for his tyres to fade late on and finish 14th.

Reflecting on Doohan's weekend, speaking to media, including RacingNews365, Oakes said: 'At the end of FP2, we weren't particularly competitive as a team. We struggled a little bit on the soft tyre.

"So the work that went on overnight, the discussion, and that was both drivers, because Jack was a little happier, and Pierre and him, they were really open.

"That's good in the team when you see your two drivers bounce ideas off each other, and share a little as well.

"Throughout the weekend, you saw it particularly in qualifying between Jack and Pierre. in Q1 and the first run in Q2, Jack was again a little happier than Pierre. Then you see Pierre gets his tools and switches, where he wants things.

"It's really interesting. I guess I'm new to it. So from F2, F3, where you're asking them to adapt driving only, you come to F1 and you hear them working with their engineers during a race using all the tools they've got, and it's much more of that.

"As a rookie, you start to learn throughout a weekend, first where you set the car up, what you want from it, but then learning more as you go from a quali car into a race car.

"Jack, to give him credit, he's learning well. You never get much credit in F1 when you're a youngster and everyone's sort of looking at what you're up to. But I think he'll definitely feel more confident after this weekend."

Doohan, the son of multiple MotoGP champion Mick Doohan, can at least head into this weekend's Saudi Arabian GP knowing the rumours surrounding his immediate future have finally been laid to rest.