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MP Motorsport ‘have the pace’ to beat title-winners PREMA in final race of the season, says Doohan
MP Motorsport rookie Jack Doohan said they’ll be “giving it large” in the final race of the season as he looks to prevent Oscar Piastri from capping off his title-winning campaign with a sixth victory of the year, adding that they want the win “more than anything.”
The 2021 Formula 3 vice-champion has starred in his second round of Formula 2, qualifying second on Friday for a spot alongside Piastri on the front row of the Feature Race, despite not getting a second push lap.
“I am going for the win, and if I can do that it would be an awesome way to finish off MP Motorsport's year and also mine,” Doohan said. “Unfortunately, I didn't get to try out the double compound in the Feature Race in Jeddah, so that will be a new experience for me. Hopefully, we get the full race. It’s going to be another learning experience.
“Oscar (Piastri) is quick, and he’ll be wanting to bounce back after this afternoon, but I want the win more than anything and so do these boys at MP. So, we will be equally giving it large, or even larger. I would be happy with a podium, but I think if we put all the pieces together, we have the pace to win.”
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Doohan claimed his second points’ finish of the season in the second Sprint Race on Saturday evening, finishing eighth, but he had to fight for the point, beating experienced DAMS driver Roy Nissany in a battle towards the end of the race.
He started in 11th following on from an issue in the opening race that saw him lose three positions at the start and finish behind Marcus Armstrong, failing to overtake the DAMS driver.
“We had a weird issue after we came in on a scrub set and changed tyres,” explained Doohan. “I went out and every time I was braking, the car was pulling to the right, and that wasn't any good for the tyres, so I was trying to manage that.
“I had a decent start but got blocked out by (Théo) Pourchaire's bad start and lost three positions and it was really tough to overtake from there. I tried everything, but unfortunately, I couldn't do it. It was really disappointing to finish 11th after such a strong result yesterday.
“This evening, I just kind of went for it and wanted to find where the limit was. I had a few good battles and caught back up to (Liam) Lawson and (Jehan) Daruvala, but I overcooked the rear a little bit. I had a gap behind me and didn't want to go off the cliff. I got quite close, though and now I have that info for tomorrow.”
It was only Doohan’s second points’ finish since making the step up in Jeddah, but the Australian’s performances have bellied his results so far and the Red Bull junior believes he’s a match for Piastri in terms of raw pace this weekend.
“It was good to be back into the points,” he continued. “But when we've come here and been one of the quickest, arguably as quick as Oscar has been, it doesn’t feel too good to have results like I did today.
“But we start tomorrow off the front row and I am looking forward to it.”