Doohan’s “aggressive” strategy results in P15 at Suzuka

Grateful to put a destructive weekend behind him, Jack Doohan took on an “aggressive” tyre strategy in a bid to recover from the back of the Japanese Grand Prix grid, ultimately finishing in P15 at Suzuka. 

One of two drivers electing to start the tame Suzuka outing on the soft compound tyre, Doohan’s race was one of desperation after he doomed himself with a last-row start in Saturday’s less-than-average Qualifying session.

When the five lights went out, he used his tyre advantage to pick off a struggling Gabriel Bortoleto George hunting down Esteban Ocon.

The move to get the Haas driver wasn’t as straightforward, with the dirty air causing Doohan to be unthreatening behind Ocon prior to his Lap 15 pitstop.

Rejoining the race where he had started, the next 38 laps were spent on the hard compound tyre, with the undercut Alpine’s preferred strategy. 

The team’s work for the front-running driver came undone during Pierre Gasly’s slow pitstop, meaning the Frenchman rejoined the race behind Doohan, prompting team orders.

Once the drivers had rejigged themselves, Doohan found himself running in P16 before inheriting his way slightly higher in the field.

Carlos Sainz’s reversed strategy of extending his medium tyre stint before a late switch to softs proved more beneficial when the Spaniard suddenly appeared in his mirrors, utilising DRS on the main straight to dispose of the #7 with ease.

With his tyres rapidly fading away, Doohan soon became the leader of a five-car-strong DRS train, defending for his life against Nico Hulkenberg as the laps ticked down.

“It was good to get another full race distance under my belt and continue to gain experience and understanding of the package,” Doohan said.

“Given our starting position, we went more aggressive with tyre strategy with the Softs at the start, which allowed us to attack and gave us the best chance to move forward with the undercut. 

“That also meant we ran a longer second stint on the Hard tyres [38 laps] and had to defend towards the end.

“I think we did well to keep Nico [Hülkenberg] at bay, but it was a pity we could not keep Carlos [Sainz] behind on the newer Softs.”

The Australian pulled through to take the chequered flag in P15, finishing his four-ever Grand Prix 19 seconds shy of his teammate in P13. 

“It was positive to move forward at a track that’s difficult to overtake and the race pace also felt strong despite no high fuel running,” he said.

“We will take a couple of days between races to rest and recover. 

“I’m looking forward to going again in Bahrain where the conditions will be completely different again.”

Also looking forward to the quick turnaround in Bahrain is Team Principal Oliver Oakes who was tasked with a hefty amount of damage control after Doohan’s expensive shunt during FP2. 

“It’s not been the smoothest weekend for the team here in Japan,” Oakes admitted. 

“We found some good steps in performance compared to the first two rounds. 

“Still, it is not enough for us to score points with Pierre finishing thirteenth and Jack fifteenth. 

“Jack did a good job to climb a number of positions. 

“We go to Bahrain knowing we had a good pre-season test there and aim to continue making steps forwards.”

The second race weekend of the triple-header will kick off with FP1 at 21:30 AEST on Friday, as the Bahrain Grand Prix runs across April 11-13.

Image: Sam Bloxham/LAT Images

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