Doohan Faces Major Setback: What Happened in Super Formula?
Jack Doohan's hopes of salvaging his career with a 2026 race program have suffered another blow, with reports from Japan indicating the Australian has missed out on a Super Formula seat following a troubled test.
After losing his Formula 1 drive with Alpine midway through last season, Doohan had been widely expected to switch to Japan's Super Formula championship for 2026. He tested with Kondo Racing, a Toyota-affiliated team, and was viewed as a strong candidate for a full-time seat.
However, Dutch magazine Formule 1 reports that the deal collapsed at the final stage. Kondo Racing confirmed last week that Ukyo Sasahara has been signed, while the second seat will go to Williams reserve Luke Browning - leaving no place for Doohan.
According to the report, the 23-year-old's prospects were not helped by a difficult test at Suzuka in December, where he crashed three times in as many days. While costly, those incidents are said not to have been the decisive factor, with negotiations instead breaking down over the level of budget Doohan was expected to bring to the program.
The news compounds an already difficult year for Doohan, who contested seven grands prix for Alpine before being replaced by Franco Colapinto early in 2025. In mid-January, the Enstone-based team formally confirmed it had ended its relationship with the Australian.
"BWT Alpine Formula One Team confirms it has reached a mutual agreement with Jack Doohan to not continue his driving services with the team for the 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship season and allow him to pursue other career opportunities," the team said in a statement.
Doohan had also been loosely linked to a reserve role at Haas, amid the American outfit's ever-closer technical ties with Toyota. No further details have emerged on that possibility.
2 F1 Fan comments on “Doohan Faces Major Setback: What Happened in Super Formula?”
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People hastily assumed by definitively declaring he’d be all but confirmed to receive a drive at Kondo Racing, only for those words to age badly, & to be honest, I ultimately wasn’t surprised at all when I found out about Ukyo Sasahara having been signed instead, as having at least one national driver isn’t bad for communication, depending on the team members’ English fluency levels, albeit both one-driver teams signed a non-Japanese driver despite the possible language barrier aspect.
As for Doohan, despite losing out on a SF drive, after all, he can still become a Haas reserve driver, not that he truly stands a chance for a full-time return in any organization, especially as not only will Haas most likely also head into 2027 with the current lineup, but even IF Lewis were to quit after this year’s season with Ollie taking his place, Ollie’s void would most likely be filled with another FDA driver instead, i.e., either Camara or Beganovic.
He can still bounce back. Next step to regain confidence: pass the driving test.