haas f1 team reserve driver Jack Doohan has confirmed his racing plans for 2026, combining his reserve role with a European Le Mans Series (ELMS) endurance program in LMP2 with Nielsen Racing.
What happens when Haas F1 Team keeps its reserves racing in parallel series?
Doohan will represent Nielsen Racing in their #24 LMP2 Oreca, joining Briton Ed Pearson and Israeli Roy Nissany. The deal is set for the start of the 2026 ELMS season, with the 4 Hours of Barcelona opener at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya scheduled for April 12 (ET).
Doohan framed the move as both a return to competitive racing in 2026 and a step into a new discipline. He described LMP2 as a “new challenge” with “a lot to learn, ” while emphasizing confidence in learning quickly within what he called a strong team environment. He also highlighted the value of early chemistry with Pearson and Nissany, calling the trio a mix of “experience and hunger, ” and pointed to the Oreca 07 as a very different test to what he has raced before.
For the haas f1 team, the significance is less about a single seat announcement and more about keeping a reserve driver active under race pressure. A reserve who is regularly competing can offer sharper readiness if called upon, while also building familiarity with racecraft in multi-class endurance environments where traffic management and long-run execution matter. The arrangement also signals a practical balance: Doohan can fulfill reserve duties while maintaining a full competitive rhythm elsewhere.
What if Doohan’s 2026 schedule becomes a readiness model for reserve roles?
Haas has two reserve drivers on its books for 2026: Jack Doohan and Japanese endurance racer Ryo Hirakawa. The team’s structure is designed around availability as much as talent. Hirakawa is set to race in the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship on alternating weekends to the ELMS, which creates a built-in safeguard that one reserve should remain available even when the other is committed to a race weekend.
This kind of roster planning matters because reserve duties are inherently uncertain: preparation must be constant, but opportunities to drive can be sporadic. By aligning the reserves across alternating endurance calendars, Haas reduces the risk of being left without a back-up driver. It is a straightforward coverage strategy, but it also reflects a wider reality for drivers in transition: competitive seats can be stitched together across series, and endurance racing can provide meaningful mileage and pressure exposure without clashing with reserve responsibilities.
Doohan’s path to this point has also been clearly defined in recent months. He lost his Alpine F1 seat in early 2025 and joined Haas a couple of months ago. The ELMS program for 2026 adds clarity to his immediate future: regardless of whether his Formula 1 opportunities expand, his next season includes a confirmed, structured racing campaign.
What happens next for Jack Doohan as the ELMS opener approaches?
The practical next step is preparation for the ELMS season start, beginning with the Barcelona round on April 12 (ET). Doohan will enter LMP2 competition with Nielsen Racing alongside Pearson and Nissany, with the #24 Oreca as the platform for his first season in the category.
From Haas’s perspective, the headline is coverage and continuity. With Doohan in ELMS and Hirakawa in FIA WEC on alternating weekends, the team has mapped out 2026 reserve availability in a way that minimizes conflicts and maintains a constant back-up option. The immediate focus for Doohan is adaptation—learning the demands of LMP2, integrating with his co-drivers, and translating that endurance experience into readiness for his ongoing haas f1 team reserve duties.
