Why Aussie motorcycling great Mick Doohan has said NOTHING to his son Jack ahead of F1 debut in Abu Dhabi

Oscar Piastri is moving closer to being part of a world championship-winning team while Australia’s newest Formula One driver Jack Doohan was left battling at the other end of the timesheets in practice for his debut Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The gulf between the two Aussies was unsurprisingly striking on the Yas Marina Circuit on Friday, as Piastri finished second fastest behind his teammate Lando Norris, with McLaren enjoying the perfect start to wrap up their first constructors’ title since 1998.

Their quest will be aided hugely in Sunday’s race by Ferrari, who trail the British team by 21 points, being handed a grid penalty which will consign their star driver Charles Leclerc to starting no better than 11th on the grid.

While Piastri trailed Norris by 0.234 seconds ahead of the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg in the second of two sessions on Friday, 21-year-old Doohan found life much more difficult at the start of his debut weekend for Alpine, finishing 19th of the 20 drivers in both sessions, with his best lap some 1.1sec slower than his compatriot’s.

Yet Doohan, son of motorcycling great Mick Doohan, loved every minute of his first experience of back-to-back grand prix practice sessions, declaring: ‘It was a great day.’

Doohan, who’s in line to become the 16th Australian driver to start an F1 race on Sunday, was watched by his dad, who’d flown in to support him.

Jack Doohan will make his Formula One debut for Alpine at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

His motorcycling great father Mick Doohan has been a proud supporter throughout his journey

Doohan has elected to leave Jack to his own devices for his debut, to not put too much pressure on him

‘He is more happy getting to watch me all weekend. We sat together and had breakfast this morning, which was really nice. He’s really excited for me as well, so it’s a super exciting moment,’ said Doohan.

And did he get any advice from his five-time world champion dad? ‘Nothing now,’ smiled junior.

‘He is leaving me to it. He has passed on so much experience and so much knowledge and advice over my years. He is comfortable and confident with where my head is at. We are just enjoying time together.’

Doohan, who was 0.444sec slower than Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly (12th), felt he had much more to give in qualifying on Saturday. ‘It was a great experience on a very busy day,’ he said.

‘But there is room for improvement ahead of FP3. My aim is to get more comfortable with each lap and continue to get closer to the level I aspire to.’

The big news of practice day was Leclerc’s 10-place grid drop because Ferrari had to fit a new battery to his car, exceeding his allowance of two for the season.

The Monaco driver had set the fastest lap in first practice but his relegation on the grid makes Ferrari’s task of overhauling the 21-point deficit behind McLaren even more unlikely.

Leclerc, whose younger brother Arthur was also on track at the same time in the Ferrari usually driven by Carlos Sainz, clocked one minute 24.321 seconds to lead the morning timesheets.

Fellow Aussie Oscar Piastri will be looking for a strong finish to the 2024 F1 season

But Norris, second fastest in the morning, clocked 1:23.517 in the key second session, with Piastri on 1:23.751.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Grand Prix is to stay on the Formula 1 calendar until at least 2030 in a contract extension.

The deal was struck even though F1’s first Chinese driver, Zhou Guanyu, is without a race seat next year.