Alpine was way off the mark at the start of the 2024 season. However, the French team has improved drastically thanks to a massive team effort. For their second points-scoring result of the season in Monaco, Pierre Gasly complimented the team’s reserve driver — Jack Doohan for his contribution.
The young Australian spent hours on the simulator to get the car in the right window. This compliment from Gasly coupled with the inside chatter makes F1 writer, Ian Parkes believe that Doohan will land the Alpine seat for 2025.
Parkes of RacingNews365 instantly discredited Mick Schumacher to fill the vacant seat in 2025. Despite the German’s relations with the French team in their WEC lineup, Parkes did not believe he was the right replacement for Esteban Ocon. Instead, he puts his money on Doohan for the seat and believes Gasly’s high praise of the 21-year-old will help.
He said, “Jack Doohan, I know from inside Alpine that he is very highly thought of. He was praised considerably for the work that he did for Alpine in the simulator in particular over the course of the Monaco Grand Prix weekend.”
“He was up to the early hours trying to get that car right for the guys. And Pierre Gasly, I know, was super complimentary about the effort that Jack had done.”
Alpine will be hosting a DNA Test for Mick Schumacher and Jack Doohan next Tuesday to determine their driver lineup next season.
Bruno Famin is “not convinced” by Mick Schumacher’s laptimes, claiming he might be a Frentzen. pic.twitter.com/WutAp6HFtN
— Motorsport Quotes (@MSportQuotes) June 21, 2024
Being the Alpine reserve driver, the Aussie is the front-runner for the full-time seat in 2025. However, he still might have to fend off competition from within and outside.
Doohan feels confident about landing the Alpine seat but it won’t be an easy promotion
Doohan has bided his time since becoming a part of the Alpine Academy in 2022. In fact, he did not take up any driving roles in 2024 to solely focus on his role with the French team. He stated, “The position that I’m in and what I’ve done, I feel like I should be in with a good chance as a seat next year”.
However, F1 teams also look at the marketability and experience of the driver. Being a rookie, Doohan doesn’t have the marketability factor and experience. Moreover, teams also often hesitate to hire a novice. For Alpine, Mick Schumacher might be a safer bet with the German carrying around two years of valuable F1 experience.
However, the competition doesn’t end there. Alpine was looking elsewhere when they were eyeing a move for Carlos Sainz. Despite the Spaniard taking a different route, they could still look outside with several experienced drivers available.
