{"id":898126,"date":"2026-09-19T20:32:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T20:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/898126\/"},"modified":"2026-09-19T20:32:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T20:32:18","slug":"jack-doohan-sends-message-to-haas-ahead-of-final-f1-2027-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/898126\/","title":{"rendered":"Jack Doohan sends message to Haas ahead of final F1 2027 decision"},"content":{"rendered":"

Could Jack Doohan\u2019s performance in a Haas<\/a> test this week give team boss Ayao Komatsu cause for consideration, as a driver decision for F1 2027 needs to be made?<\/p>\n

Doohan joined Haas as a reserve driver ahead of the F1 2026 season after parting ways with Alpine at the end of last year, and climbed back into an F1 car for the first time since splitting from Enstone when he took part in a Haas test at Jerez this week.<\/p>\n

Jack Doohan thanks Haas F1 team after TPC outing at Jerez<\/p>\n

The Australian, son of Australian motorcycling legend Mick Doohan, took part in a TPC (Testing of Previous Car) outing at the Jerez circuit earlier this week, driving the 2026 VF-25.<\/p>\n

Doohan split driving duties with Toyota-backed WEC driver Ryo Hirakawa and 2024 Super Formula title winner Sho Tsuboi at the Spanish venue, with the outing being his first in an F1 car since taking part in the 2025 Miami Grand Prix with Alpine.<\/p>\n

Haas\u2019s latest TPC run came on the back of another test at Portimao in Portugal, where Ferrari junior Rafael Camara and McLaren reserve Leonardo Fornaroli tested along with Hirakawa.<\/p>\n

Haas is yet to finalise its driver lineup for the F1 2027 season amid lingering uncertainty over Esteban Ocon\u2019s seat, with the French driver still a contender to hold onto his seat against the external challengers.<\/p>\n

Jack Doohan among the contenders for Haas seat for F1 2027 season<\/p>\n

F1 driver contracts: What is the contract status of every driver on the F1 2026 grid?<\/a><\/p>\n

F1 2027 driver line-up: Which drivers are already confirmed for the 2027 grid?<\/a><\/p>\n

As reported by PlanetF1.com at last weekend\u2019s Spanish Grand Prix<\/a>, Camara was understood to have made the biggest impression on Haas during the first TPC test in Portugal, with the 21-year-old Brazilian said to be the leading candidate at this stage if Ocon is dropped; his case is strengthened by the fact that Ferrari is said to be eager to land its academy driver with a seat in F1.<\/p>\n

But Doohan\u2019s performance during the TPC test can be viewed as an assessment, and the situation following the outing is understood to be that the Australian can\u2019t be ruled out of consideration if Komatsu is only looking for outright performance.<\/p>\n

In a post on social media on Saturday, Doohan expressed his gratitude to Haas following his return to an F1 cockpit at Jerez.<\/p>\n

He wrote: \u201cIncredible feeling to be back behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car, massive thank you to the whole Haas F1 team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doohan\u2019s comment comes after Ayao Komatsu, the Haas team principal, refused to put a firm timeline on the team\u2019s decision for 2027.<\/p>\n

Speaking to PlanetF1.com and other media outlets, Komatsu insisted that driver performance will be the primary factor behind Haas\u2019s choice of Oliver Bearman\u2019s teammate for the F1 2027 campaign.<\/p>\n

However, Komatsu added that sponsorship and other commercial factors are likely to come into play if the performances of the drivers under consideration are relatively even.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cI\u2019ve always said we take drivers by performance, so performance comes absolutely first.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf two drivers have got equal performance, affiliations or the packages they\u2019ve got matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we never take somebody who is three tenths slower, but who has got affiliations with Toyota or Ferrari, or got five million more [in sponsorship].<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not going to do that, so it\u2019s all about performance first.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s within tenths, for instance \u2013 or very, very close \u2013 then the affiliation package does come into play for sure. I think we can choose by performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pressed on a timeline for a decision, he added: \u201cI don\u2019t know. Not next week, shall I say.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re in a very fortunate situation. There are so many drivers interested in our seat, really.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Oliver Harden<\/p>\n

Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n

You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n

Read next: The Hamilton delusion: How Lewis set himself up for more disappointment at Ferrari<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Could Jack Doohan\u2019s performance in a Haas test this week give team boss Ayao Komatsu cause for consideration,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":898127,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,97619,817,813,816,5328,818,2045,44,85],"class_list":["post-898126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-ayao-komatsu","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-haas","tag-home-page","tag-jack-doohan","tag-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=898126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898126\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/898127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=898126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=898126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=898126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}