Jack Doohan will be replaced by Franco Colapinto at Alpine with immediate effect, after just six races with the squad in 2025, the team has said.
Hours after Oliver Oakes announced his resignation at team principal, Alpine confirmed the driver change, which is provisionally just for the next five races, starting with the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.
Flavio Briatore, who is stepping into Oakes’ shoes for his third stint as team principal at the Enstone constructor, said the pair would swap, with Doohan dropping into Colapinto’s role as reserve driver.
“Having reviewed the opening races of the season, we have come to the decision to put Franco in the car alongside Pierre for the next five races,” said Briatore in a team statement. “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.”
Doohan was confirmed in August last year as Esteban Ocon‘s replacement alongside Pierre Gasly, but his position looked under threat before the 2025 season started, as Alpine signed Franco Colapinto from Williams as a reserve driver in January.
Colapinto made his grand prix debut last year as a replacement for American Logan Sargeant at Williams. The Argentina impressed in his first few races, scoring points in three of his 10 outings with the Grove team.
“Obviously, this latest chapter is a tough one for me to take”
But Williams had no seats available for 2025 and Colapinto was eventually signed by Alpine as one of its reserve drivers. The 21-year-old is backed by YPF, a majority state-owned Argentine energy company.
The company’s CEO Horacio Marín had already suggested by mistake on TV that Colapinto would be racing at Imola.
“I will work hard with the team to prepare for the next race in Imola and the upcoming triple-header, which will no doubt be intense and a big challenge for everyone,” said Colapinto. “I have stayed sharp, and I am as ready as possible with the team’s race support testing programme, as well as on the simulator at Enstone. I will do my best to get up to speed quickly and give it my all to deliver the best possible results alongside Pierre.”
Doohan endured a difficult start to his first full season in Formula 1, failing to score in his six outings and being involved in several costly accidents, including in his home race in Australia.
In his final grand prix with the team in Miami, he retired after making contact with Liam Lawson‘s Racing Bulls car at the start.
Doohan’s Suzuka crash was expensive for Alpine
Grand Prix Photo
“Obviously, this latest chapter is a tough one for me to take because, as a professional driver, naturally I want to be racing,” said Doohan, who will now hope for a second chance with the team after its deriver line-up is re-evaluated ahead of the British Grand Prix.
“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.”
Alpine’s decision comes as no real surprise given the intense speculation over Doohan’s future.
Late last year Briatore, who rejoined the team as an advisor, started talks with Williams about signing Colapinto, and rumours surfaced in January suggesting Doohan had been given six races to prove himself.
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In those six races, Doohan has crashed out twice on the opening lap (Australia and Miami) and has not finished higher than 16th on the road, although he was elevated to 13th in China after three drivers were disqualified. He also suffered a big crash in Japanese GP practice.
On average, the rookie has qualified 0.367sec behind team-mate Gasly, who has scored the team’s only points of 2025.
While Doohan’s start to life as an F1 driver has been far from stellar, the fact that Alpine has struggled with its car has been a contributing factor in the Australian’s short grand prix career.
Alpine finished the 2024 season in promising fashion as it secured sixth in the standings, but this year’s car has not helped the team carry that momentum. Gasly himself has scored points just twice.
Plagued by rumours about his future, Doohan’s six 2025 outings were always under huge pressure, even though he said it wasn’t a factor in how he approached racing.
“I think there was a new narrative each weekend and very quickly I knew what was irrelevant and what wasn’t true and just focused on my job,” Doohan was quoted as saying by Reuters in Miami.
“I don’t take anything personally. I just think this is our sport. This is how it is for my time right now. And for sure I’ll benefit from it more than anything else.
Doohan’s future had been the source of speculation since 2024
Grand Prix Photo
“So I think it was just keeping my head down and doing my job and knowing what’s real and what’s not.
“And to be honest, on top of everything, and even in the difficult times, I didn’t really ever feel affected by it. I had a good group of people around me, the team were also very supportive.”
The Miami GP was a good reflection of Doohan’s season, showing flashes of speed — he outqualified Gasly — alongside costly mistakes, but his fate looked to have been sealed before he had a chance to prove himself.
