Aussie Watch: Bleak F2® weekend for Doohan in Baku
Monday, 1 May 2023
Jack Doohan drops three places in the F2® standings after an Azerbaijan event that began slowly before a small, belated 'win' on Sunday.
A pass for position at the chequered flag was the last-gasp high point of a difficult Azerbaijan FIA Formula 2® weekend for Jack Doohan, who dropped three places in the standings after managing no better than 15th place across two races in Baku.
The Australian 20-year-old, who came to Azerbaijan off the back of a fighting drive into the points at Albert Park earlier in April, could make little headway in Baku after qualifying saw him mired in 16th place on the 22-car grid.
Doohan ran as high as 11th in the 21-lap Saturday Sprint race, which was a stop-start affair with the on-track action paused for three safety car periods. The Invicta Virtuosi Racing driver moved up to 11th after the second safety car caused by a crash for Israeli driver Roy Nissany (PHM Racing by Charouz), but locked his right-front brakes heading into the first corner of the race restart with three laps left and spun into retirement.
In stark contrast to Saturday's manic Sprint, Sunday's 29-lap Feature race was a more sedate affair. Doohan dropped a place on the first lap to end it in 17th place, and then fell to the back of the field after his mandatory pit stop on lap 6. He edged forwards to begin the final lap in 17th, and pipped Frenchman Clement Novalak (Trident) at the line to snare 16th, the one bright moment of an otherwise subdued weekend.
He was later promoted to 15th after Frenchman Victor Martins (ART), who had finished fourth, was disqualified for a technical regulations breach.
Doohan dropped to 14th in the standings with 24 points after his non-scoring weekend, but had just 30 points after the same number of races last season to sit 10th overall before finishing strongly, ending the season in sixth place.
Ferrari Academy driver Oliver Bearman (Prema) won both the Sprint and Feature races in Baku – the Briton's first two victories in the category – while Sauber F1 Academy driver Theo Pourchaire took the F2® series lead by five points after the Frenchman finished third in the Feature race.
