Jack Doohan has said he isn’t letting any of the
speculations about him losing his seat get to him, saying he feels “immune to
it”.
The Australian’s rookie season has seen him race under
constant speculation that he could lose his seat to Franco Colapinto at any
given moment.
Jack Doohan: I’ve known what’s irrelevant and not true
Following the impressive showing of Franco Colapinto
after replacing the struggling Logan Sargeant at Williams last season, Doohan
has had to cope with relentless speculation, usually from Argentinean sources,
that he could lose his seat to Colapinto – speculation that was never firmly
closed down by Alpine’s management.
The rumour mill has constantly suggested Doohan has only
been reassured of having the first six races of the F1 2025 season to
impress Alpine, with
Colapinto waiting in the wings after being signed as reserve driver on a
long-term deal.
The Miami Grand Prix this weekend is the sixth race of
the championship, and Doohan has arrived in Miami with a fresh wave of rumour
surrounding his seat as, earlier this week, the CEO of a prominent sponsor of
Colapinto ‘let slip’ on a live interview on Argentinean television that
Colapinto will return to Formula 1 at Imola – the next race of the season.
But Doohan said he hasn’t felt affected by any of the
noise surrounding him since the winter, saying that he was able to grow immune
to it before the season started and, as a result, has been able to stay focused
on doing the best job he can.
“The worst of it was in January pre-season when there was
the most noise, nothing else going on,” he told media, including PlanetF1.com.
“It was the talk of the town but I think there was a new
narrative each weekend and, very quickly as well, I knew what was irrelevant,
what wasn’t true, and just focused on my job.
“To be honest, on top of everything, and even in the
difficult times, I didn’t really ever feel affected by it – I had a good group
of people around me, and the team was also very supportive.
“So I never had that or felt that on the back of my mind.
For sure, there’s always going to be noise. But I was more just focused on
being as fast as I could in the car, rather than thinking about anything
external.
“Potentially, since this topic has been around for so long,
by the time the season got started, maybe I was already so immune to it!
.webp)
