Jack Doohan’s bid to rebuild his single-seater career in Japan this year has hit a sudden and unsettling roadblock.
Just weeks after being released from his F1 reserve role with Alpine, the young Australian had appeared to find a lifeline in Japan’s fiercely competitive Super Formula championship.
The move was meant to be a reset: new country, new machinery, new momentum. Instead, it has unravelled at the eleventh hour.
The 23-year-old was widely expected to join Kondo Racing, but the team’s announcement on Friday confirmed the worst: the seat has instead gone to Ukyo Sasahara, who will partner Williams reserve Luke Browning.
A Nightmare in December
The foundations of this deal were already trembling following a disastrous Super Formula test debut at Suzuka in December when Doohan suffered three separate crashes on three consecutive days, all at the exact same corner.
While those high-profile errors certainly damaged his reputation, they weren't the final blow.
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Instead, the cold reality of motorsport economics proved to be the undoing. Negotiations between Doohan and Kondo Racing ultimately fractured when the Australian failed to secure the expected budget required to finalize the seat.
This financial shortfall does more than just end his Japanese ambitions; it casts a long shadow over a potential reserve role with Haas.
That deal was reportedly tethered to the Toyota-backed Super Formula move, and with the primary pillar of that arrangement now gone, Doohan’s status as a relevant figure in the F1 paddock is under immediate threat.
Without a seat, a manufacturer tie-up, or a clear path forward, the son of the legendary Mick Doohan faces a winter of silence.
For a driver who was competing at the pinnacle of the sport just one year ago, the prospect of a season on the sidelines is a stark reminder of how quickly the F1 dream can turn into a nightmare.
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