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Jack Doohan is set to receive a significant opportunity to revive his Formula 1 career, with Haas preparing to evaluate the Australian as it considers Esteban Ocon’s replacement for 2027.
According to the Italian edition of Motorsport.com, Doohan will take part in a Testing of Previous Cars session at Jerez in September. The outing is being viewed inside the team as an audition for a potential race seat alongside Oliver Bearman, who is expected to remain with Haas.
The test could provide Doohan with a concrete opportunity to demonstrate that he is ready to return to the grid. Haas will use an older-specification car to assess his suitability, giving the former Alpine driver a rare chance to make his case on track rather than from the reserve-driver role.
Doohan’s first Formula 1 opportunity ended after only seven rounds of his career. Alpine replaced him with Franco Colapinto six races into the 2025 season, despite Doohan having made his debut at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix when he stood in for Ocon ahead of the Frenchman’s move to Haas.
The decision had been heavily anticipated after Alpine agreed to bring Colapinto in on loan from Williams before the campaign began. That situation placed Doohan under intense pressure from the outset. He subsequently remained Alpine’s reserve driver for the rest of 2025, although his exit from the team was only confirmed in January after an early termination of his reserve contract.
Doohan then joined Haas as its reserve driver for 2026, providing cover for Ocon and Bearman. That move has now opened a possible path back into a race cockpit—although the competition is substantial.
Haas will also conduct a TPC test at Portimao after the Dutch Grand Prix. McLaren reserve Leonardo Fornaroli, Ferrari junior Rafael Camara and Haas reserve Ryo Hirakawa are expected to be involved in what amounts to a wider evaluation of the team’s options.
Fornaroli is reportedly ahead of Camara in Haas’s thinking. His consecutive Formula 3 and Formula 2 titles have strengthened his case, while Camara arrives as the reigning Formula 3 champion and a rookie contender for the 2026 Formula 2 title. Alexander Dunne’s F2 campaign underlines the depth of young-driver competition surrounding the next generation.
That means Doohan’s Jerez test may not guarantee a genuine shot at the seat. If Fornaroli or Camara impresses first at Portimao, Haas could make its decision before the Australian gets his opportunity. For Doohan, the message is clear: Jerez may be his best—and perhaps final—chance to turn a reserve role into an F1 return.
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.