Jack Doohan enjoyed a good F1 debut with Alpine last weekend in Mexico City, admitting that he felt a lot more nervous weeks before his run than on the day.
Doohan completed 13 laps of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez during the one-hour opening practice session, but was forced to shorted his run due to a power unit issue identified by the team.
The 19-year-old son of motorcycle legend Mick Doohan says he prepared well in advance for his public debut in F1 in Mexico City, but initially felt quite nervous about the prospect of steeping on to the big stage.
"It was really cool and there's been quite a bit of preparation leading up to this," he explained to media, including RacingNews365.com.
"I've been preparing and trying to make my way into paddock since the news broke at the start of August and I've been aiming towards this.
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"The nerves that I'd say are usually there jumping from Formula 2 to Formula 1 - and that being such a big thing - were I'd say a little less, just because I am trying to put myself into a position where this is where I want to be - I want to be driving in Formula 1.
"I'd say there were more nerves four weeks ago than there were today.
"Obviously, when I hopped in the car, and I was pulling out of the garage, there was a lot of excitement, a lot of joy and heaps of emotions going on.
"Once I was out on track, that really kind of flushed away and it was really hard to describe what I was feeling, but it was a really cool sensation."
Despite his shortened session, Doohan hailed his run in FP1 as "an incredible experience and something I’ll remember forever".
Alpine team boss Otmar Szafnauer was complimentary of Doohan's performance, insisting the young gun had fulfilled the team's expectations.
"He is a very solid young man, and I think very quick," Szafnauer said.
"He showed in the 13 laps that he got up to speed very quickly, but we told him beforehand, just drive within yourself. Don't go 'ten tenths', and he didn't.
"You saw that he was driving within himself which was exactly what we asked for.
"His preparation was exemplary going in and he wanted to know everything. He is a good kid."
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