Jack Doohan has been Alpine’s development driver for two years but is now just one step away from getting promoted to the main team. This puts Mick Schumacher — their World Endurance Championship driver — out of contention for a return to F1.
In June this year, Doohan and Schumacher were part of a test at Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet. According to Tobias Gruner of AMuS, Doohan was quicker than the German driver, which made him the favorite for a place on the Enstone-based team.
Both drove Alpine‘s 2022 challenger, which unfortunately for Schumacher, Doohan was more familiar with, as he had tested in it previously. As such, Gruner calls Doohan’s move to Alpine a “formality”.
Auto Motor Und Sport’s Tobias Gruner writes: “Jack Doohan’s promotion is actually just a formality. The Australian met Mick Schumacher in a direct duel on the Paul Ricard test track at the end of June. The team did not officially want to comment on the performance….”
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The Australian’s promotion to Alpine would lock another line-up on the 2025 grid, with Pierre Gasly previously having signed an extension with them.
Schumacher, meanwhile, would lose another option when Doohan signs for Alpine. He is still a Mercedes reserve, and could take Toto Wolff’s help to find a seat on the F1 grid. Unfortunately, there aren’t many empty spots remaining with Mercedes and Audi/Sauber being the only ones with a seat to fill.
Mercedes has its eyes on Kimi Antonelli for 2025, which leaves Audi — a team from Schumacher’s home country.
Audi is Schumacher’s last realistic hope
Audi joins F1 from 2026 onwards by taking over Sauber, and because it wanted a German driver, it has already signed Nico Hulkenberg. The Hinwil-based team also wanted Carlos Sainz to complete a star-studded lineup for its ambitious plans. But Sainz chose Williams, forcing Audi to dive into the market again.
The team’s current drivers — Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu — have four months remaining on their existing contracts. Both have a claim to the seat. Bottas in terms of experience, and Zhou, because he offers sponsorship money.
But if the German team doesn’t want to go down that road, they could sign Schumacher, a famous name in their country because of his seven-time champion father — Michael Schumacher.
