Amid lingering rumours about his short-term future in F1, Alpine rookie Jack Doohan has remained calm and composed, a confidence underneath strain that has impressed staff principal Oliver Oakes.
The early weeks of Doohan’s tenure as a full-time Alpine F1 driver had been overshadowed by persistent whispers relating to his future.
Hypothesis was rife that Alpine’s newly-signed reserve driver, Franco Colapinto, might change the Aussie after simply 5 races ought to the latter fail to impress, inserting vital strain on Doohan even earlier than the beginning of pre-season testing in Bahrain.
Nonetheless, the son of bike legend Mick Doohan has remained remarkably calm within the face of strain, giving assured and direct solutions when requested in regards to the rising uncertainty surrounding his Alpine contract.
His potential to stay composed within the face of the rumour not solely underscored his professionalism and psychological energy, but in addition highlighted his focus and willpower. A conduct that did not go unnoticed amongst the Enstone staff’s administration.
Oakes Impressed by His Driver’s Boldness
Oakes admitted in Bahrain that Doohan’s poise and pointed response when grilled by the media have impressed him.
“He is alright. I feel I used to be fairly happy with him being punchy with you all”, Oakes reacted to a query from Motorsport.com.
“I truly really feel for him as a result of I get that everyone needs the clickbait and that’s a dialogue subject.
“However I feel he needs to be given a little bit of house to simply get on with it for a couple of rounds.”
“It doesn’t matter what driver you might be, in any class, there’s strain”, the previous karting world champion added. “It does not matter whether or not that is in F1 and even within the junior classes.
“I feel as a result of Franco did an excellent job final 12 months, he is acquired a giant fan base, so it is pure that folks wish to speak about that.
“However from the opposite facet, I feel, as a staff, we’re fairly fortunate to have three reserves who’re superb, and that places us in a robust place.”
“And when it comes to whether or not it is good or variety to Jack, I used to be fairly open that he is driving a Formulation 1 automobile – that’s each boy’s dream, but it surely’s additionally his job. And for me, that is fairly easy.
“On the finish of the day, like each driver, you’ve acquired to ship, however I feel he is doing a very good job at blocking out the noise and simply getting on with it.”
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