Jack Doohan admits one F1 team have done something ‘really special’ this season

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Alpine test driver Jack Doohan has admitted that the turnaround from McLaren during the 2023 Formula 1 season has been absolutely incredible.

Doohan was a guest on the Sky Sports F1 Podcast after a memorable weekend in Austin.

It was another middling weekend for Alpine who would have hoped for a double points finish after a strong qualifying session.

Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon lined up on the forth row ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

Unfortunately, Piastri and Ocon made contact within the first few corners, eliminating them both from the race.

Gasly went on to secure a sixth-place finish which has seen him leapfrog Lance Stroll into the top ten in the Drivers Championship.

After the first few races, Alpine would have hoped that a top-five finish in the Constructors’ Championship was on the cards.

However, McLaren’s incredible development in the second half of the season has ended those hopes at Alpine and test driver Jack Doohan has admitted it’s been impressive to watch from the outside.

Their driver line-up of Piastri and Lando Norris is regarded as one of the strongest on the grid.

They’ve now got a quick car to go with it and will be hoping they can carry this form into next season.

Alpine test driver Doohan gives verdict on McLaren

Asked about how he’s viewed their rapid progress this season, Doohan said: “I think it’s an example not only to us but to everyone of how things can turn around, how you can get your package together.

“We haven’t really been focusing too much on McLaren or anything, you have to accept that other teams are doing well and have done really good things and are a front-running team and things could have been different if they had that pace at the start of the year.

“But we’re really trying to get everything into order like they’ve been doing and make sure that now we can go on that same trajectory.

“It doesn’t happen overnight, they’ve really managed to do something really special because no one has ever really been able to do that so quickly and go from a backmarker team in Bahrain to now a consistent and consecutive podium finisher, in that moment it’s extraordinary.”

Doohan admitted that he doesn’t think Alpine or any other team on the grid could do what McLaren are doing right now.

They’ve got four races left to secure their first Sunday win of the season after Piastri’s Sprint Race victory in Qatar.

Lando Norris will be desperate to stand on the top step of the podium after five second-place finishes this season.

He’s come so close and led for much of the race in Austin, but hasn’t got over the line just yet.