Jack Doohan: From Gold Coast Karts to Formula One and Beyond

Jack Doohan is an Australian racing driver who made his Formula One debut with Alpine in 2024 and raced full time for the team in 2025. He won Formula 3 races at Spa and Sochi in 2021 and Formula 2 races in 2022 and 2023, and he now serves as a reserve driver for Haas while competing in sportscars.

Who is Jack Doohan?

Jack Michael Doohan was born on 20 January 2003 and is an Australian racing driver. He grew up in Gold Coast, Queensland, and is the son of five-time 500cc motorcycle World Champion Mick Doohan. In 2026 he is also racing sportscars with Nielsen Racing.

He has raced at seven Grands Prix, all of them between 2024 and 2025, and he has been a reserve driver for Alpine and then Haas. His career path runs through the Red Bull junior programme, the Alpine Academy and several championships on the way up.

A karting start in a Michael Schumacher kart, a 2021 Formula 3 double at Spa and a Formula One debut in 2024.

How did Doohan's karting and early single-seater career start?

Doohan began kart racing at nine. His first kart came from a former neighbour, the seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher. He took the Australian Karting Championship in 2015 and 2016, and by 2017 he was third in the CIK-FIA European Championship and sixth in the world.

He began single-seater racing at fifteen, in the F4 British Championship with TRS Arden Junior Racing Team. He won three races that season, with his first car win at Thruxton, and finished fifth in the standings, one point behind Dennis Hauger. He also ran part-time in the German and Italian F4 championships for Prema Powerteam, with 12th and 20th in the standings and no podiums.

What did the 2019 Asian and Euroformula seasons bring?

In 2019 Doohan made his debut in the F3 Asian Championship with Hitech Grand Prix, winning five races. He finished runner-up, 25 points behind Ukyo Sasahara. His main campaign that year was the Euroformula Open with Double R, where he finished on the podium at Hockenheimring and at the Red Bull Ring.

He ended the Euroformula season eleventh overall and sixth in the rookies' standings. The following winter he returned to the Asian Championship with Pinnacle Motorsport and was runner-up again, this time behind Joey Alders.

How did his 2020 Formula 3 debut go?

In 2020 Doohan moved into the FIA Formula 3 Championship with HWA Racelab, alongside Jake Hughes and Enzo Fittipaldi. His high point was seventh in qualifying at Silverstone and topping practice at Spa-Francorchamps, but incidents and misfortune dominated the year.

He scored no points in 2020, and his best finish was eleventh at the final race in Mugello. He finished 26th in the drivers' championship. He called the year very tough, but felt it taught him more than a successful season would have. Trident gave him a test during the post-season.

How close was Doohan's 2021 Formula 3 title race?

For 2021 he moved to Trident, partnering Clement Novalak and David Schumacher. He qualified second at Barcelona and took his first podium in the feature race. At Spa-Francorchamps he took his first pole by 0.7 seconds, then won both the sprint race and the feature race. That made him the first FIA Formula 3 driver to score two victories in one weekend.

The title went to Dennis Hauger after a sprint mistake by Doohan at Sochi left him out of the points. He did win the final race, after defying team orders to let Novalak through, and that result helped Trident take the teams' championship by four points.

After the season he remained in Formula 3 for the post-season with Van Amersfoort Racing.

How did his Formula 2 seasons with MP and Virtuosi go?

Doohan first appeared in Formula 2 with MP Motorsport for the final two rounds of 2021, replacing Richard Verschoor. He qualified second in the Yas Marina finale, and he scored points in his second race with fifth place.

In 2022 he joined Virtuosi Racing alongside Marino Sato. He took pole in the season opener at Bahrain, although a collision at the pit exit broke his front wing and ended his race for the lead. He still felt he had been as quick as anyone in that race. His first podium of the year came at Barcelona, where he finished second behind Felipe Drugovich. At Silverstone he won the sprint race in the wet, and he won the sprint at Budapest from reverse pole.

Jeddah was rougher. He was disqualified from qualifying for a technical infringement, and a sprint collision with Logan Sargeant cost him a grid drop. His feature recovery to ninth gave some relief.

His first Formula 2 feature win came at Spa-Francorchamps, where he undercut Drugovich during the pit stops. The year closed with sixth in the standings on 128 points, backed by three wins, three poles, four fastest laps and six podiums.

How did the 2023 Formula 2 season end in third?

In 2023 he stayed with Virtuosi alongside Amaury Cordeel. He had a poor opening round in Bahrain, but he was back on form at Jeddah, where he finished second in the feature race. In Hungary he took his first pole of the year and won the feature by nine seconds.

At Spa he qualified 11th, but he climbed to second in the feature race after a late safety car and passed Theo Pourchaire on the second-last lap for consecutive feature wins. Zandvoort and Monza were less productive, and Monza's numerous safety cars left him sixth in the feature and out of the title fight.

He closed the season with pole at Yas Marina and a feature win by 3.8 seconds, which moved him into third in the standings with three wins and five podiums. He received the inaugural Formula 2 Best Performance Award, shared with Richard Verschoor.

How did he move from Red Bull to Alpine?

He signed for the Red Bull Junior Team in September 2017, and he left the academy after his 2021 season to join the Alpine Academy in 2022. He described the switch as a no-brainer, because Alpine's formula testing programme and its World Endurance Championship project gave him more opportunities.

He tested the Alpine A521 at Losail in 2022 and then drove again at Monza. He was an Alpine reserve driver in 2023 and 2024, and he took part in first free practice at the Mexico City and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix. He was discussed for a 2023 Formula One seat, but that seat went to Pierre Gasly. His first test of 2023 came in May, when he drove the A521 at Monza, and he later covered the Mexico City and Abu Dhabi practice sessions.

In 2024 he tested the A522 at Zandvoort in May and then joined the Canadian and British weekend practice sessions as he worked toward a 2025 seat.

How did his Formula One debut and 2025 season go?

Doohan made his Formula One debut at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, replacing Esteban Ocon. He qualified 20th and finished 15th. Ocon had left the team early, which created the opening, and Doohan became the first Alpine Academy driver to be promoted to Formula One.

For 2025 he partnered Pierre Gasly on a full-time basis. He qualified 14th at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, then crashed on the opening lap in wet conditions. In China he took ten-second penalties in both the sprint and the race, finishing 20th and 13th, after a collision with Gabriel Bortoleto in the sprint and an incident with Isack Hadjar in the race.

Japan brought a spin into the barriers in practice, and he qualified 19th and finished 15th. Bahrain produced 14th after a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits. In Saudi Arabia he was 17th in both qualifying and the race, and at Miami he retired from the main race after a first-lap collision with Liam Lawson.

Why was he demoted and where did his career go next?

Alpine opened talks about replacing him with Franco Colapinto early in the season, and after the Miami round he was demoted to a reserve role. Team adviser Flavio Briatore, who also manages Doohan, said the change was a fair assessment of the drivers ahead of 2026. Colapinto stayed in the seat after the five races originally planned for the rotation.

At the start of 2026 Doohan parted ways with Alpine with immediate effect. He then joined Haas as a reserve driver for 2026.

What is Doohan doing in sportscars and Super Formula in 2026?

Alongside his Haas role, Doohan signed with Nielsen Racing for the LMP2 class of the 2026 European Le Mans Series, with Edward Pearson and Roy Nissany as teammates. At Barcelona he qualified seventh in the class, and in the race he worked up to third before a rear suspension failure dropped him to seventh.

He also took part in a Super Formula pre-season test at Suzuka with Kondo Racing. He crashed three times at Degner 2, which limited his running, and negotiations with Kondo later ended after disagreements over how to make the car competitive.

What are Doohan's main results?