Jack Doohan is arguably under the most pressure among the 2025 crop of rookies, owing to Alpine’s signing of Franco Colapinto. The 22-year-old is indirectly under threat of losing his seat to Colapinto if he doesn’t perform per the team’s expectations. Amid this, a massive shunt at the Japanese GP weekend did not really help his cause.
Sadly, Doohan has not achieved the results he would have liked so far. After crashing out of his home race in Australia, he finished 13th in the Chinese Grand Prix and could only muster a P15 finish in Japan last weekend.
On top of that, the 50G crash he had in FP2 on Friday was a huge moment in his weekend, and that might have shaken him up. However, the Australian younger showed great “courage” to recover from that crash mentally and physically, too.
It was a rather frightening accident when he crashed into the barriers while driving at a speed in excess of 186 mph, but he confirmed he was fine. However, the reality was much different, as explained by veteran F1 photographer Kym Illman in his most recent video.
“Of course, these guys are incredibly fit, but when you collide with a wall, albeit a wall with six rows of tires, it does put tremendous strain on your body in the end,” the Aussie photojournalist explained while referring to Doohan’s crash.
Illman added that Doohan was evidently “very sore”. However, Doohan did not show any signs of discomfort while being filmed, presumably because he did not want to show any signs of weakness, amid the mounting pressure on him with Colapinto waiting in the wings.
The pressure on Jack Doohan’s shoulders simply won’t let up, as footage emerges of Franco Colapinto doing a ‘TPC’ test with Alpine at Monza.
On loan from Williams, the high-profile reserve driver did not travel to Japan, and now it is clear why – he was on factory-based… pic.twitter.com/6qkYK6qdGG
— Motorsport Reports (@MotorsportRprts) April 7, 2025
Nevertheless, the 22-year-old’s team also believes that Alpine’s senior management will take note of his courage and will understand that they have the right driver in their lineup.
Argentine journalist believes Colapinto will soon replace Doohan
Although Doohan’s camp is confident that he will stay at Alpine, Argentine journalist Florencia Andersen has his doubts. “Franco is getting closer and closer, hence the expectation,” Andersen said on a national podcast. “Franco says his job is with Alpine, and at some point, he’ll have a spot with that team”.
While she did not reveal any sort of timeline about when he expects Colapinto to get that second seat at Alpine, several reports seem to suggest that Doohan’s time in F1 is limited.
Another reason why the pressure is all the more on the Australian is that he tops the Destructors’ Championship with repair bills in excess of a whopping $2.3 million after just three races.
Despite nothing seemingly going Doohan’s way, his management maintains that he has a multi-year contract with Alpine and that he will serve it. However, if the reports that emerged last year of Doohan having just a six-race contract are true, then Colapinto could replace him as early as Imola this year.
