Jack Doohan dropped from Alpine F1 seat after just seven races

Jack Doohan has been dropped from his F1 seat at Alpine – with Franco Colapinto replacing him for the next five races.

Doohan, 22, only made his F1 race debut at last year’s season-ending grand prix in Abu Dhabi, replacing Esteban Ocon, but has been under pressure from the start of the 2025 season.

The arrival of Argentine driver Colapinto from Williams in January, signed as a reserve driver by Alpine executive adviser Flavio Briatore, immediately placed Doohan’s future under the spotlight.

Australian driver Doohan has not scored a point in six races this year and was forced to retire from Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix after a first-lap collision with Liam Lawson. Now, Alpine have confirmed that Colapinto will race alongside Pierre Gasly for the next five races of the season, starting at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in Imola. Alpine will reassess the situation after July’s British Grand Prix.

Team principal Oliver Oakes resigned on Tuesday night, ahead of official confirmation of Doohan’s axing, with executive adviser and former Renault boss Briatore assuming all his responsibilities.

An Alpine statement read: “As part of an on-going assessment of its driver line-up, the team has made the decision to rotate one of its race seats for the next five rounds of the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship.

“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.”

Colapinto, 21, has been undergoing TPC (Testing of Previous Cars) sessions with Alpine in recent weeks, leading to speculation that a change was imminent.

The Argentine impressed in nine races for Williams last year but a 2025 seat was never on the cards at the Grove-based outfit, with Carlos Sainz already announced as joining Alex Albon as the team’s driver pairing.

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Briatore said: “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.”

As well as Colapinto, Alpine also signed Paul Aron as a reserve driver in the off-season. Ryo Hirakawa was also at the team, before moving to Haas last month.

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Doohan, who is the son of five-time motorcycle world champion Mick Doohan, crashed out of the season-opening race in Australia and also suffered a big crash in practice at the Japanese GP.

His best finish so far this season was a 13th-place finish in the Chinese GP, though he did receive a 10-second penalty post-race for forcing Isack Hadjar off track.

Doohan said: “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.”