Having an NFL star as your boss might be a cool thing, but getting your new contract from the MVP himself? Now, that is a wild experience that Jack Doohan can now claim to have lived through. The Alpine F1 team got Patrick Mahomes and his Kansas City Chiefs colleague Travis Kelce as its investors last year in October. The two pro athletes joined the investment group called Otro Capital pooling a $224 million cheque and bought a 24% stake in the French team. And as Alpine has announced Jack Doohan as its newest recruit, Mahomes is technically the 21-year-old’s boss!
Alpine’s situation in Formula 1 is not a very sturdy one as it has suffered some major exits in recent years. Esteban Ocon announced he would be leaving the outfit in 2025, and thus they needed a new talent to take his place. Carlos Sainz was initially discussed, however, he opted against it. So, for this role, they had two options: Jack Doohan (who acted as Alpine’s reserve driver up until now) and Mick Schumacher (who races for Alpine’s World Endurance Championship division). The two young racers even went head-to-head on a test drive at Silverstone around the time of the British GP, considering their qualities, Alpine picked Jack Doohan.
While Jack comes from a racing family, the son of 5x motorcycle World Champion Mick Doohan, and his connection to the NFL seems almost non-existent, Patrick Mahomes has become a good friend of the Aussie. So, the 28-year-old took to his official Instagram page and congratulated Jack Doohan for landing his career-first F1 role as Pierre Gasly’s teammate. He said, “Let’s go!!! Congrats, man!” The Formula 1 page on Instagram reposted the MVP’s message with a picture showing Mahomes and Doohan at the Miami GP.
However, the cheerful message hailing Jack Doohan’s recruitment was not the only thing Patrick Mahomes did to welcome the Australian to the team. So, how else did he announce the new Alpine signing?
Patrick Mahomes’ epic touchdown marked Jack Doohan’s Alpine entry
With uber-cool stars like Mahomes leading the team, Alpine could hardly afford to announce Jack Doohan’s contract conventionally. So, the social media admin for the Enstone outfit shot a clip of the NFL MVP performing one of his massive throws as Jack Doohan stood miles away on the receiving end. Like the legend that he is, Mahomes’ touchdown was perfect to the tee, and thus, Jack Doohan received his first-ever deal in the form of a football, with an F1 contract photoshopped on it!
With the Formula 1 drivers’ market becoming more competitive with every passing day, Doohan’s contract is a positive sign for the racer who came third in the Formula 2 2023 season. Speaking on this, he said, “It was a crazy experience and something that, to be honest, has still taken a long, long time to sink in, just because there’ve been so many times that I’ve felt like I’ve been so close. I just couldn’t believe it until it was announced, like today, until it was up there on F1 and out for everyone.”
Doohan is the second Alpine reserve driver to get a promotion to a Formula 1 role in the last 2 years. The first was Oscar Piastri, but he never accepted the offer in the first place.
Thus, Jack Doohan and Pierre Gasly will be headlining Alpine’s 2025 campaign. Do you think this means the duo can fetch better results for the French squad than what they are getting in the current season?
