Jack Doohan says he is paying no attention to rumours he won’t complete his first full season in Formula 1.
Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko named him the weakest rookie on the F1 grid this year and suggested his Alpine team will drop him before the end of the year.
Speaking to Red Bull-owned television channel Servus TV, Marko was invited to grade drivers who are starting their first full seasons this year. Marko, who is responsible for Red Bull’s junior team, rated Doohan the lowest, labelling him a “C driver.”
“I don’t think he’ll complete the full season,” Marko added.
Doohan moved up to Alpine’s race team at the final round of last season, having previously been their reserve driver. However the team’s consultant Flavio Briatore moved quickly to hire Williams’ Franco Colapinto and is thought to prefer him for Doohan’s seat.
“I haven’t been thinking about any of that,” said Doohan in today’s press conference ahead of his home race in Melbourne. “There’s no point thinking about rumours or commenting on them.
“I have a contract for at least this year, if not more. So I look forward to many home grands prix.”
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He pointed out Colapinto is one of four reserve drivers Alpine has appointed for the upcoming season. The team announced Kush Maini as its latest reserve just two days ago, joining Colapinto, Paul Aron and Ryo Hirakawa.
“I have to perform each and every time I’m in the car,” said Doohan. “I have one guy chasing my seat, but we actually have four now, if you didn’t realise, we have four reserves.
“It’s not just Franco who probably wants my seat and if not, Pierre [Gasly]’s as well. And I wanted their seats while I was reserve driver the last two years.
“So I’m going to enjoy, to be honest, every race as if it’s my last, because I want to enjoy each and every moment I’m in the car.”
Marko rated Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Oliver Bearman as ‘A’ and Gabriel Bortoleto as ‘B’, noting the latter won fewer Formula 2 races than Red Bull’s junior driver Isack Hadjar last year.
“He’s a very intelligent driver, won the Formula 3 championship but with only one victory. He always stays out of trouble in the races.
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“Similarly, in Formula 2, he only has two wins. Hadjar has four wins. So, he brings the car to the finish line, his strategy and tyre management is good, but I don’t think he’ll have that absolute final speed.”
Bortoleto beat Hadjar to the title by 22.5 points but Marko said “our simulation guy calculated that he lost 80 points through no fault of his own due to technical defects and the like.”
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