MIAMI -- Jack Doohan said he has felt "immune" from the pressure associated with the constant speculation over his future of Alpine, ahead of a Miami Grand Prix many felt he would not be participating in.
Doohan's rookie season has been overshadowed by Alpine signing Argentinian driver Franco Colapinto on board as a reserve driver in early January.
Reports in the preseason, largely in Argentina, suggested Colapinto would have replaced Doohan by the Miami GP, although speculation of a swap has cooled over the first few weeks of the season.
Doohan is racing this weekend as normal and it remains unclear whether Colapinto will move into the seat in the future.
"To be honest, the worst of it was in Jan, preseason, when there was the most noise," Doohan said during Thursday's media day about the external noise around him.
"[There was] nothing else going on. It was the talk of the town. But I think there was a new narrative each weekend. Very quickly as well, I knew what was irrelevant and what wasn't true. And just focused on my job. To be honest, on top of everything, even in the difficult times, I didn't really ever feel affected by it.
"I had a good group of people around me. The team were also very supportive. I never had that or felt that on the back of my mind. For sure, there's always going to be noise. But I was more just focused on being as focused as I can in the car, rather than thinking about anything external. Potentially, since this topic's been around for so long, by the time the season got started, maybe I was already so immune to it.
"If it might have started just a couple of days before Melbourne, it might have hindered me more."
Doohan said Alpine advisor Flavio Briatore's straightforward approach to their conversations about the future have been helpful in keeping his fears at bay.
"He's [someone] that I've looked up to for a very, very long time," Doohan said. "And I love him being brutal and very to the point where there's no BS, there's no mucking around. You find out what's going on very, very quickly. I prefer that much more than Chinese whispers."
He added: "Things were clear in what was happening. And he was just wanting me to do well, and the best would happen. And [saying] forget about the noise, forget about what's going on.
"Just do the best that I possibly can. And things are always out there for a reason. Nothing gets out by mistake. So I think it was just keeping my head down and doing my job, and knowing what's real and what's not."