Jack Doohan revealed that trying to get the Alpine Formula 1 seat is more nervous than participating in FP1.
Doohan, who is a member of the Alpine Academy, emerged as one of the potential candidates for the vacant Alpine seat after Fernando Alonso had decided to make a switch with Aston Martin and Oscar Piastri had joined McLaren.
Though Alpine decided to sign Pierre Gasly, Doohan is closer to joining the F1 grid than before.
Doohan made his debut FP1 appearance in Mexico on Friday. The Australian driver completed 13 laps but had to end the session early because of an engine issue.
Doohan admitted that driving the car was not as nervous as trying to get the seat.
“There’s been quite a bit of prep leading up to this, and I’ve been preparing myself trying to make my way into this paddock since the news broke at the start of August, and I’ve been aiming towards this,” he said.
“So, the nerves that I’d say usually would be from jumping from Formula 2 to Formula 1 and it being such a big thing were a little bit less, just because I was trying to put myself in a position where this is where I want to be.
“I want to be driving in Formula 1. I’d say there were more nerves four weeks ago than there were today [on Friday].
“Obviously, when I hopped in the car and I was pulling out of the garage, there was a lot of excitement, a lot of joy, heaps of emotions going on.
“Once I was out on track, that all really kind of flushed away.
“It was hard to describe really what I was feeling, but it was a really cool sensation.”
