Colapinto replaces Doohan at Alpine

Alpine has chosen to replace Jack Doohan with Franco Colapinto for the next five races in the 2025 Formula 1 season. The team says it is part of their driver assessment program for 2025.

It’s a tough situation for Jack Doohan and in many cases in F1, when you have an opportunity, you have to deliver. Jack has had good sessions and some challenges so far this year.

As we mentioned on this week’s podcast, in the past you could be forgiven for being a rookie and the teams would normally suggest that it will take some time to get your sea legs. In this day and age and with Kimi Antonelli, Isack Hadjar and Ollie Bearman doing so well, those days of “giving the rookie some time” may have just shortened or even evaporated.

Franco brings a tremendous amount of momentum from South America with a major sponsor joining the team when he was announced as their reserve driver. There is a real fan base that developed for him last year when he excited the paddock during his stint at Williams. He’s an exciting young talent who has certainly paid his dues.

Franco isn’t without his own need for refinement, however, with a couple crashes last year that may have cooled Williams and Red Bull off on potentially hiring him long term. To be fair to Williams, they acquired Carlos Sainz, a known talent.

Alpine signed Colapinto to a long-term deal and this week’s resignation of Olli Oakes has added speculation and drama to an already drama-filled team over the past several years. With Flavio Briatore at the helm, change was going to be inevitable. Ollie and Jack may just be the collateral damage of the new Flavio roadmap for Alpine. The big question is, can Briatore replicate his past glory with Renault…without the 2008 Singapore GP controversy of course.

Team Statement:

BWT Alpine Formula One Team therefore announces that Franco Colapinto will be paired with Pierre Gasly from the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, ahead of a new evaluation before the British Grand Prix in July.

Jack Doohan remains an integral part of the team and will be the first-choice Reserve Driver for this period of time.

Franco, who was one of the team’s Test & Reserve Drivers, will race with the number #43 on the A525 and will partner Pierre for the first time in Imola, ahead of three races in three weekends in Europe, which also covers the Monaco Grand Prix and Spanish Grand Prix, before two races in June for the Canadian Grand Prix and Austrian Grand Prix.

Flavio Briatore, Executive Advisor:

“Having reviewed the opening races of the season, we have come to the decision to put Franco in the car alongside Pierre for the next five races. With the field being so closely matched this year, and with a competitive car, which the team has drastically improved in the past 12 months, we are in a position where we see the need to rotate our line-up. We also know 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 in order to maximise our ambitions next year. We continue to support Jack at the team, as he has acted in a very professional manner in his role as a race driver so far this season. The next five races will give us an opportunity to try something different and after this time period we will assess our options.”

Franco Colapinto:

“Firstly, I want to thank the team for giving me the opportunity to drive competitively for the next five races. I will work hard with the team to prepare for the next race in Imola and the upcoming triple-header, which will no doubt be intense and a big challenge for everyone. I have stayed sharp, and I am as ready as possible with the team’s race support testing programme, as well as on the simulator at Enstone. I will do my best to get up to speed quickly and give it my all to deliver the best possible results alongside Pierre.”

Jack Doohan:

“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. Obviously, this latest chapter is a tough one for me to take because, as a professional driver, naturally I want to be racing. That said, I appreciate the team’s trust and commitment. We have long-term goals as a team to achieve and I will continue to give my maximum efforts in any way I can to help achieve those. For now, I will keep my head down, keep working hard, watch with interest the next five races and keep chasing my own personal goals.”