It would’ve been a surreal moment for Jack Doohan to hear from Flavio Briatore that he’d be replacing Esteban Ocon as Alpine’s full-time race driver in 2025. Having served as the reserve for two seasons by that point, the Aussie was hell bent on capitalizing on this opportunity to show his worth. But his season went off to a rocky start before he even got into the car.
That’s because Franco Colapinto, who took part in nine races for Williams in 2024, came into the Enstone-based team as the new reserve driver.
Colapinto was arguably the biggest revelation of the 2024 season, scoring points on two different occasions for a team that was struggling at the back of the grid.
Plus, he got himself to F1 with the backing of rich Argentine sponsors, which promised to make him an asset to any team that had him. And Alpine, reportedly, had that in mind when they landed his signature.
Reports stated that if Doohan failed to impress, Colapinto would be replacing him midway into the campaign. And according to news coming out of Argentina, it’s on course to materialize.
Journalist Florencia Andersen said in a national podcast:
“Franco is getting closer and closer, hence the expectation. Franco says his job is with Alpine, and at some point, he’ll have a spot with that team.”
“Doohan tuvo una buena carrera, es su mejor resultado en la categoría hasta ahora. (…) Franco se está acercando cada vez más” — @f1andersen
“Tuvimos un fin de semana de carrera en Suzuka que fue bastante aburrido, eso dijo la gente: solo hubo 14 sobrepasos. Doohan tuvo una… pic.twitter.com/pXIlUmEIXx
— De Acá en Más (@DeAcaEnMasOk) April 7, 2025
This doesn’t come as a surprise either, especially with Doohan’s struggles mounting. Alpine is the only team on the grid who have failed to score a single point this season in the opening three races and a lot of it is down to their poor mechanical package. But Doohan, in particular, has appeared to struggle more than teammate Pierre Gasly.
To make matters worse, the rookie crashed in Australia, and then in Japan this past weekend, which has sent him atop the destructors’ championship, racking up a $2.3 million bill for Alpine.
Alpine’s advisor, Briatore, known for his ruthless decision-making, won’t be appreciative of the same, and with Colapinto’s presence bringing in talent along with considerable sponsorship money, a swap could well and truly be on the horizon.
The Enstone-based team even provided Colapinto with a test run at Monza over the weekend, which could signal major changes brewing. While it was part of his reserve duties under the team’s Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) program, the Argentine driver would be fancying his chances of a full-time F1 return.
So unless Doohan, who reportedly signed just a six-race contract heading into 2025, drastically improves, he could become the second driver to lose his seat after Liam Lawson at Red Bull.
