Jack back on the box with podium at Silverstone 🥉
Jack Doohan has continued his recent form surge at the British Grand Prix, the Australian taking his second FIA Formula 2 world championship podium finish of the year with third place in the Sprint race to jump to seventh in the drivers' championship.
The 20-year-old came to Silverstone, site of one of his three victories in 2022, off the back of a fourth-place Feature race showing in Austria one week prior. The Invicta Virtuosi Racing driver picked up where he left off by qualifying in a strong fourth place despite having to back out of what was his best lap after Van Amersfoort Racing driver Juan Manuel Correa spun in front of him, and then being impeded on his next lap.
In Saturday's 19-lap Sprint held in damp conditions after a pre-race rain shower, Jack started from sixth and had the last laugh in a race-long fight for position with Prema driver Oliver Bearman, passing the British for third place at the Vale corner with three laps left. Jack's podium was his first since he finished second in the Saudi Arabia feature in March.
Jack's chances of backing that up in the Feature were undone by being on the wrong side of a strategy lottery of a race that was neutralised three times by Safety Car periods.
Jack dropped a position on the opening lap to end it in fifth place. He advanced to fourth by passing Rodin Carlin's Enzo Fittipaldi on lap five, but a safety car caused by a spin for his teammate Amaury Cordeel one lap later gave an advantage to the drivers who had started the race on the alternate strategy, using the harder tyre.
Shuffled back to ninth during the pit stop phase, Jack briefly dropped to 11th and found himself in seventh when subsequent safety cars on laps 11 and 17 effectively turned the race into a 10-lap shootout. He put superb moves on Trident's Clement Novalak and DAMS driver Ayumu Iwasa – both at Stowe at the end of the back straight – to advance to fifth, then passed Iwasa's teammate Arthur Leclerc for fourth at Brooklands on lap 26 when the Monegasque driver ran wide under pressure.
Jack hunted down ART's Theo Pourchaire for third in the final three laps, but finished 1.8secs behind the Frenchman in fourth, banking another 12 points for a weekend that saw him improve two places in the drivers' championship to seventh with 72 points. Jack has now earned points in six consecutive races.
"It was another strong weekend with good consistent points," Jack said.
"I was consistently at the front and had pace, and it was great to get a podium in the Sprint race. The Feature was looking very strong, I just got pushed wide in some tough racing in the middle of the race that just put me a little bit out of order when the alternative strategy guys got a free pit stop."
"It made it a little bit more difficult, but to finish fourth and get 12 points was quite good knowing that we had very strong pace. Once it all cleared up at the end, we were the fastest on track."
Silverstone marked races 15 and 16 of the 26-race F2 season, with the series resuming at the Hungarian Grand Prix on July 21-23 before the Belgian Grand Prix the following weekend (July 28-30).
"I'm looking forward to being able to capitalise on this pace, because it's great to know it's there now and the feeling is very good," Jack said.
"Hopefully we can keep going in this rhythm and crack on in Hungary and Spa."
FIA Formula 2 World Championship: Round 8 Great Britain results
Sprint race (19 laps): Started 6th, finished 3rd
Feature race (29 laps): Started 4th, finished 4th
2023 F2 World Championship standings: 72 points (7th overall)
Next F2 event: Hungaroring, Budapest (July 21-23)