Alpine rookie Jack Doohan has collected four penalty points in a single weekend in China.
Doohan, who picked up two places in the sprint race yesterday, was given two more after the grand prix. The stewards ruled he forced Isack Hadjar off the track at turn 14 while the pair were fighting for position.“Car seven [Doohan] was overtaken by car six [Hadjar] in the run-up to turn 14 and in trying to take the position back on the inside, Doohan lost control, locked up and forced Hadjar off the track.
“We accordingly imposed a 10-second time penalty with two penalty points which is in keeping with the guidelines for forcing a driver off the track.”
The penalty dropped Doohan from 14th place to 16th. He told his team: “Apologies about the penalty,” after taking the chequered flag.
The stewards looked into another incident between Doohan and Hadjar during the race, when the Alpine driver made a late move to defend his position. Having originally looked into whether he changed his line too late in the braking zone, they decided no investigation was necessary.
After the race Doohan said he was pleased to have kept his rival behind. “We showed some of our potential in racing conditions in keeping Isack in the RB behind for more than 20 laps, especially considering their speed all weekend,” he said. “It was unfortunate to receive the penalty that we did, and we will revisit it to ensure it does not happen again.”
Penalty box
Did you agree with the stewards’ penalty for Doohan?
Doohan's penalty for forcing Hadjar off was:
- No opinion (0%)
- Far too lenient (0%)
- Slightly too lenient (0%)
- Correct (47%)
- Slightly too harsh (33%)
- Far too harsh (20%)
Total Voters: 30
Loading ...Jack Doohan’s penalty points
| Date | Event | Session | Infringement | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22/3/2025 | Chinese Grand Prix | Sprint race | Collision between car 7 and car 5 in turn 14. | 2 |
| 23/3/2025 | Chinese Grand Prix | Grand prix | Forcing another driver off the track in turn 14. | 2 |
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StefMeister (@stefmeister)
23rd March 2025, 9:41
I think it’s far too harsh.
It was just hard racing and I think in situations like that if any penalty is given at all it should maybe just be telling the driver that made the mistake to give the place up rather than 10 second penalties or these penalty points which i’m just not really a fan of for minor incidents like this to begin with.
If a driver flies up the inside well out of control and pushes a driver off or runs into the side of them then of course a harsh time penalty and penalty points are a fair thing to hand out.
But for small incidents when you have drivers racing really hard where no contact was made and no harm was really done I just don’t think the harsher penalties handed out are necessary.
Riccard
23rd March 2025, 9:49
The approach in the last few years has been that if the driver wants to “just give the place up”, they should do that themselves rather than force the stewards to conduct an investigation.
In general I like that because it means fewer investigations and fewer penalties… but it does mean that if you refuse to give it up, it might bite you!
BasCB (@bascb)
23rd March 2025, 15:57
Yeah, and they also decided that the “standard” apporach going forward would be to hand out 10 second penalties + points for them. It was obvious here that Hadjar would have passed him there if he had not blocked it (and to add to it he then had several cases of moving at a VERY late time, it looked like he was moving after both had been braking).
To NOT penalise this would only teach both of them that this is the way to go, so it is good to put the lid on it right away.
HAL
23rd March 2025, 11:22
The moving under braking was realy on the limit… When he pushed Hadjar outside, it looked more like a genuine mistake – I don’t understand why F1 is not simply asking the driver to let the other pass, that would be much simpler and logical.
So overall, I’d say it’s a harsh, but not entirely undeserved.
Riccard
23rd March 2025, 9:43
I agree with the penalty itself. Hadjar would have been through if Doohan hadn’t forced him off, so all it did was address the issue… and Doohan could have avoided it if he’d given the place back.
I’m on the fence with the points on his license. On the one hand, I think there’s space for a warning for rookies for a first offence. An experienced driver would have received points for misjudging this corner / losing control / forcing someone off; but there was no malice here, and he’s still learning.
On the other hand, you can argue the penalty points *are* the warning: two points (or four) by themselves don’t do anything, and as long as he learns from this, he’ll be fine.
So: in-race penalty fair (as he didn’t give back the place); points on license harsh but consistent with others and understandable.
SteveP
23rd March 2025, 10:06
I disagree, if you’re going to tell Max/Lando/Lewis/George that they can’t throw it down the inside and force someone else off, then you have to do the same for everyone on the grid, including the rookies.
I’m just waiting for the wails when a front four team member gets a similar penalty – or the arguments pro/con when they don’t.
Roger Ayles (@roger-ayles)
23rd March 2025, 9:54
I’d say it was far too harsh.
I think the penalty system in F1 and many of the anti-racing over regulation needs a complete overhaul and a lot of it should be scrapped so the drivers can just be left to race.
Never needed all these constant investigations and silly penalties in the past and we had far better racing action for it.
All all lot of this anti-racing over regulation nonsense does is make f1 look like a joke compared to other categories that actually allow drivers to race hard and use common sense and the racing in those categories is farr more exciting as a result!
Applebook
23rd March 2025, 19:40
It wasn’t harsh at all. What he did was ridiculous, and he would have avoided a penalty if he had just given up the spot. You aren’t allowed a kamikaze dive bomb anymore to force another driver off the track, especially not when you’re so far behind, lock up, AND were defending a lost position instead of attacking. What was his team doing not telling him just to relinquish the position? It was 100% his fault. Did he disobey his team to give up the spot? His late love under braking was just absurd as well. He learned from Max.
Win7Golf (@win7golf)
23rd March 2025, 9:56
Doohan and Lawson don’t belong in F1. Give their seats to others…
HAL
23rd March 2025, 11:18
Dohaan was close to Gasly most of the race – he did a solid job this WE. You may not like him and think he is not the next Senna, but to say he does not belong to F1 is beyond ridiculous. Like to hit people that have a knee on the ground ?
Jonathan Parkin
23rd March 2025, 13:02
The problem is both Doohan and Lawson are driving from a different place. Every race is they are under so much pressure to perform they are driving through desperation as it were and this is causing issues.
I know F1 racing IS a high pressure environment, but there is pressure and then there is PRESSURE!!!!
And Doohan and Lawson are feeling the latter
Jere (@jerejj)
23rd March 2025, 10:00
Definitely correct & fair because he wasn’t in control of his car.
He really needs to be careful not to give more & more reasons for Flav to sack him.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
23rd March 2025, 10:03
At least Alpine have points on the board in the penalty constructors’ championship.
Red Andy (@red-andy)
23rd March 2025, 10:52
I thought the move under braking was worse, to be honest, and more deserving of a penalty than what looked like a misjudgement. But potentially he could have been penalised for both, and it wouldn’t have been unreasonable.
Elvira
23rd March 2025, 11:22
I enjoyed his fights today – tiny lockup and subsequent slow speed understeer ‘successfully’ defending the indefensible, the instantaneous mirrored cover that people think is great when Max does it and then holding the brat behind him forever.
Given the noises that he started with just five races before not being Flavio of the month – he’s on track to have a surplus.
MikePrice
23rd March 2025, 13:13
The raciest guy today this weekend. Must have a target on his back. Stewards don’t like racing.
MXMXD (@mxmxd)
23rd March 2025, 15:19
Correct. He pushes Hadjar out essentially because he locks up.