Alpine’s decision to swap its drivers comes as little surprise given the prolonged pressure on Jack Doohan but, similar to Red Bull’s recent switches, it shows how ruthless Formula One can be.
The team’s announcement on Wednesday that Franco Colapinto would replace the Australian driver for the next five races came after Doohan had only competed in seven grands prix, scoring zero points, with a highest finish of P13. By comparison, teammate Pierre Gasly scored seven points in this season’s six grand prix weekends, his highest finish being seventh.
In its statement, Alpine said Doohan was still “an integral part of the team” and would be its first-choice reserve driver across the next five races. The decision to give Colapinto the seat up until at least the British Grand Prix in July was part of an “ongoing assessment” of its driver line-up, Alpine’s statement continued.
The driver swap completes an active 24 hours for the team, the news coming less than a day after Oliver Oakes’ shock resignation as Alpine’s team principal. Executive advisor Flavio Briatore will take on Oakes’ duties while remaining in his original role.
But there was pressure on Doohan even before the 2025 season began. He needed to perform this season. Colapinto was signed as one of Alpine’s test and reserve drivers in January after a standout debut with Williams in 2024 as a mid-season replacement for Logan Sargeant. Plenty of interest surrounded the Argentine, including from Red Bull as it worked out how to replace Sergio Pérez, but it began to cool after some late-season crashes.
There’s no doubt that Colapinto is a quick driver and a bright young talent, but he also brings significant commercial pull from Latin America. For example, e-commerce platform Mercado Libre joined Alpine as a sponsor this year when Colapinto didn’t even have a race seat.
Long before any of this arose, Oakes had told The Athletic during the 2024 Las Vegas GP weekend that getting the Alpine seat was a “huge opportunity” for Doohan but also warned, “probably in my role as the boss of the team, I also have to say, he’s got to take that opportunity, and he has to deliver.”
Doohan didn’t have a full-time race seat last season, instead, he did a heavy testing program with Alpine, hoping to get a chance at F1. That moment came in December 2024 when Esteban Ocon and Alpine parted ways before the season finale in Abu Dhabi so the Frenchman could participate in the post-season test with Haas, his new home. Doohan made his debut in that race, finishing 15th.
The Colapinto signing announcement came 31 days later. Even under that early scrutiny, Oakes publicly backed his driver, but the expectation was for Doohan to perform. He is a rookie, and it takes time to acclimate, but he should have been closer to Gasly’s performances. The Frenchman’s average lap times were quicker by approximately 0.17 to 0.50 seconds in the three races where neither driver retired (China, Japan, and Bahrain).
Doohan retired after a Lap 1 collision in Miami (Sipa USA)
It wasn’t until last weekend’s Miami GP that Doohan finally outqualified Gasly, but he retired after colliding with Liam Lawson on Lap 1 of Sunday’s race. That was yet another costly moment for the team, just a fourth of the way through the season. He also had a DNF in the opening race in Australia and suffered a heavy crash during practice at Suzuka in Japan.
In his statement, Doohan said he would keep working hard and “watch with interest the next five races.”
“I am very proud to have achieved my lifelong ambition to be a professional Formula One driver and I will forever be grateful to the team for helping me achieve this dream,” he said. “Obviously, this latest chapter is a tough one to take because, as a professional driver, I want to be racing.”
Formula One is ruthless. We said the same when Red Bull swapped Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda. Oakes said in November that this sport isn’t easy. There will always be pressure.
Should Doohan have done better, given the preparation provided by Alpine? Possibly. But he is a rookie, and that’s a steep learning curve regardless of your route to a seat.
But the entire Alpine team, ninth in the constructors’ standings on seven points, is under pressure to become competitive again, especially with a tight midfield battle. Alpine’s last title was as Renault in 2006, with Briatore at the helm.
In his statement, Briatore talked of the team’s need to change, because the midfield was so closely matched and because the car was competitive after being “drastically improved in the last 12 months.”
But, tellingly, he also looked ahead to next season, to when the new regulations will come into effect.
“The 2026 season will be an important one for the team and having a complete and fair assessment of the drivers this season is the right thing to do to maximise our ambitions next year,” he said. “The next five races will give us an opportunity to try something different and after this, we will assess our options.”
The pressure was on Doohan to perform. For whatever reason, he fell short.
(Top photo: Mark Thompson/Getty Images)