MELBOURNE: Jack Doohan faced disappointment in his qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix after a promising lap was thwarted by a yellow flag. The 22-year-old from Queensland appeared set to qualify for the final segment when Lewis Hamilton spun his Ferrari at the exit of turn 11, forcing Doohan to abandon his fast lap.
As a result, Doohan will begin his first Australian Grand Prix from the 14th spot on the grid. Reflecting on the setback, he remarked to the media, including Wide World of Sports, "I just got a bit unlucky with the yellow flag with Lewis." He noted that prior to the yellow flag, he was two-tenths ahead of his expected timing and felt confident about his performance.
Doohan successfully advanced from the initial qualifying stage and had aimed for a lap time in the high 1:15 range. His teammate, Pierre Gasly, recorded a time of 1:16.1, enabling him to progress into the final qualifying round. Doohan was the last driver to pass Hamilton’s stationary car before the seven-time world champion regained control. Had Doohan arrived moments later, he might have avoided the yellow flag entirely.
Despite his disappointment, Doohan chose to remain optimistic. "I won’t get too caught up in that," he said, acknowledging the unpredictability of the sport. He expressed his intention to re-focus for the race ahead.
In other notable developments from qualifying, Lando Norris secured pole position alongside his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri on the front row. The 58-lap Australian Grand Prix is scheduled to commence at 3 pm AEDT on Sunday.