“To be honest, I haven’t really struggled with the pressure at all,” Doohan said in the build-up to the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
“For sure, there have been a couple of instances like in Australia and Japan which you could potentially say that they could be pressure-related, but in all honesty, being fully open, they both were not. And the team have done a great and amazing job as well to really take that away, especially internally, which has been nice.
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“For me, I know the raw pace has been there since the start, so that’s also an inner confidence that I can take with me, to know that as much as there is always going to be pressure and presence, to know that it wasn’t getting to me.”
Doohan is one of four drivers yet to score a point this season, alongside Fernando Alonso, Liam Lawson and Gabriel Bortoleto. He finished a season-best 13th place in China, but has frequently shown pace comparable to team mate Pierre Gasly.
In Jeddah, following a P17 result in Qualifying, the Australian would finish the race in the same position he started and, going forwards, has targeted an improvement to his single-lap pace.
.webp?ssl=1 "How did the new kids on the grid do in their first F1 season?")
