Why Doohan chose Alpine Academy over Red Bull F1 junior programme

The Australian had the option to extend his stay in the Red Bull junior programme for 2022, but elected to switch to Alpine, joining fellow FIA Formula 3 graduate Olli Caldwell and F3 drivers Victor Martins and Caio Collet as part of Alpine's junior line-up.

Last year Doohan finished runner-up to then fellow Red Bull junior Dennis Hauger in F3, in what was his fourth year as a Red Bull junior, having been part of the initiative since racing karts in 2018.

It could be seen as a bold call to switch from Red Bull to Alpine, given the French team's inability to promote any of its previous intake of juniors, including countryman and reigning F2 champion Oscar Piastri, who is set for a year on the sidelines as the team's reserve driver.

However, Doohan, who will step up to F2 this year with Virtuosi Racing, says he feels the Alpine Academy offers better opportunities to reach F1 and more importantly tools to become a better all-round driver.

"I think just the layout of the programme and what it is going to do for me to become a better driver," said Doohan, when asked what convinced him to join Alpine.

"Obviously Red Bull had that, but if it was the same I wouldn't have moved so I don't want to touch on that too much, but it was just a really good path to become a better driver regardless of the end goal. To learn as much as possible and to get valuable time and something you really can't get anywhere else and that I hadn't been getting.

"It is coming to a point where it is make or break in Formula 2 there is nothing really to go back on so I had to make the decision for what I wanted to do to become a better driver and Alpine was that.

"In my limited time with the programme already I'm enjoying it a lot and I can't wait to