‘One of my most difficult days in Formula 1’ – Doohan pinpoints area for improvement after challenging Saudi Arabian GP

Jack Doohan is focused on improving his single lap pace after a challenging Qualifying in Saudi Arabia saw Alpine attempt an “adventurous” strategy on Sunday, a race that the Australian described as "one of my most difficult days in Formula 1".

Doohan started the Jeddah race from 17th on the grid after failing to match the pace of team mate Pierre Gasly, who made it into Q3 and lined up in ninth before unfortunately crashing out on the first lap.

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The Safety Car that was called upon following that collision between Gasly and Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda presented the opportunity for some to try an alternate strategy, with Doohan among a small number of drivers to pit for hard Pirelli tyres.

With low degradation across the weekend, and with little to lose, a long-game gamble was deemed worth a try. The tyres, however, could only last until Lap 32 as Doohan was forced in for a second stop, before finishing in the position he had started.

Keen to avoid similar challenges in the coming races this season, Doohan said: “I think we just have to focus on our strengths and if we put everything together on one lap, we can be there in Quali.

"I think then that will make everything a little bit easier, will make our strategy a bit more simple and would not pressure us into having to do such adventurous things to try to make up for it.

“Here, there was a lot more going on and some more difficulties, but we’ve got to keep our heads down and chins up.”

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Labelling the Grand Prix “one of my most difficult days in Formula 1 to date”, he added: “A combination of things just weren’t clicking. The first stint just wasn’t looking terrible.

“We obviously took the gamble on that first lap Safety Car. I questioned it initially because I was like ‘well, we’ve got 49 laps to go here on this hard,’ and to be honest, I felt quite comfortable in the first laps behind Nico [Hulkenberg].

“Unfortunately, we just didn’t have enough to get past on the straights. Then I would take a lap to not be up his gearbox and let everything cool down, but if I wasn’t at that 0.5-0.6s and was still in DRS, I was just a victim to the cars behind.”