Doohan’s Q3 hopes dashed despite season-best qualifying effort

Jack Doohan clocked his best Qualifying result of the season in Bahrain, but it came with “mixed emotions” after missing out on a spot in Q3 by just 17 milliseconds, leaving him to line up P11 on the grid.

Always believing a place in Q2 was well within his A252’s capabilities, Doohan was in no rush to start the opening stage of qualifying, only exiting the pitlane at the 15-minute mark.

Putting his best foot forward, Doohan impressed as he jumped to the top of the early timesheets with a time of 1:31.919s, outpacing some top contenders before settling into an eventual P6. 

He proved his pace wasn’t a one-off when he further promoted his Alpine into speedy P5, three-tenths off the fastest time of the session which helped to secure him a deserved place in the second stage.

Q2 was a session that was reduced thanks to an early Red Flag, meaning drivers had just 11 minutes to stake their claim at a place in the final shootout.

One of the last drivers to exit the pitlane when the track was deemed clear, Doohan managed to sit free of the bottom five after his first attempt, however, he remained at risk as six drivers were yet to record a time.

Sitting eight-tenths off the benchmark, the Australian rejoined the session for one final flying lap, however, it was his preparation lap that ultimately let him down. 

The Alpine driver started his last-ditch run on a strong note, setting two personal best sectors before his lap fell apart in the final sector, seeing him miss out on his first Q3 appearance by a painful 17-millisecond margin.

“I have mixed emotions after that session even if the majority of the evening was largely very positive,” the #7 said.

“We will start tomorrow’s race in our best starting position of the year on my side. 

“It was all coming together nicely throughout Q1 and most of Q2. 

“I think I missed the window on tyre optimisation on the last run – a little too fast on my warm-up – over preparing them and we probably did not maximise the full potential on that last push lap. 

“Still, plenty of positives there and things to understand for the future.”

With a time of 1:31.245s, Doohan was forced to settle for P11, lining up alongside Isack Hadjar for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Despite having trailed Doohan in the opening stages of the session, Pierre Gasly’s late charge lit up the timesheets, seeing him advancing to the top ten shootout—a session he excelled in when he secured the fifth fastest time by the chequered flag.

Receiving another exciting bout of news, Gasly was promoted to the second row after both Mercedes drivers received a one-place grid penalty for failing to follow the race director’s instructions, leaving their garages before the announcement of a resumption time in Q2. 

Joining his teammate in the top ten is Doohan’s target, with the Australian launching from his highest qualifying position tonight with the goal of scoring his first points in Formula 1.

“Tomorrow will be a long race, with high tyre degradation quite likely,” Doohan said.

“Starting in eleventh means we are knocking on the door of the points so we will see what we can do on strategy and aim to convert today into a top ten finish in the race.”

Lights out for the Bahrain Grand Prix set to take place at 01:00 AEST.

Image: Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images

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