- After just seven races at Alpine, reports indicate Australia’s Jack Doohan is being replaced by ex-Williams rookie Franco Colapinto ahead of the 2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
- Colapinto famously signed a multi-year deal with the Enstone team (albeit as a test and reserve driver); whereas Doohan’s agreement controversially only spanned five/six race weekends.
- While Alpine itself has yet to officially make the announcement, the shuffle has been all but confirmed by paddock pundits, industry insiders, and the like.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Formula 1 is, at the best of times, a ruthless ecosystem where your immediate replacement (along with your replacement’s replacement) is always waiting in the wings.
That’s why after a lacklustre seven-race run which hasn’t yielded a single point – peaking at P14 in Bahrain, and bottoming out at P17 in Saudi Arabia (if we’re not counting DNFs) – Jack Doohan has been unceremoniously booted by Alpine to make way for Argentinian phenom Franco Colapinto.
As unjust as it may have seemed – not that justice is particularly valued in the face of F1 politics – the 22-year-old Aussie began his tenure at Alpine with a target on his back: following a solitary race as Esteban Ocon’s replacement to close out the 2024 season, the Enstone team eagerly signed Colapinto as a potential successor.
Colapinto had, of course, dazzled as Logan Sargeant’s replacement at Williams Racing during the latter half of 2024; recording two points finishes and brazenly knocking at the door of a Top 10 result on three other occasions in what was widely considered backmarker machinery.
And while the hard-battling rookie initially joined Alpine as a test and reserve driver, the contrasting structures in his and Doohan’s respective deals were extremely telling.
Franco Colapinto accidentally pulling into the @AlpineF1Team garage in 2024… it was always meant to be 😅#F1 @FranColapinto pic.twitter.com/QsbR5Anynv
— Formula 1 (@F1) January 9, 2025
The former inked a multi-year contract while the latter was only afforded a limited agreement that guaranteed him a precarious five to six race weekends. Reading between the lines, there were clearly performance clauses in place for a mid-season shuffle.
“I have to get the team in the right condition to get results and the driver is the one who has to conclude the work of nearly 1,000 people behind him. Everyone works for just two people,” Renault executive Flavio Briatore told Le Parisien.
“If there’s a driver who isn’t making progress, who isn’t bringing me results, I change him. You can’t be emotional in F1.”
Briatore continued: “Clearly, Franco is among the best young talents in motorsport right now. It is fair to say his appearance on the Formula 1 grid last year caught many, me included, by surprise and his performances have been very impressive for a rookie driver.”
“We have an eye on our future and his signing means we have a great pool of young drivers to call upon and work with in developing the team for future success.”
Looks like some drivers need better contracts! #f1 https://t.co/6HzrcMja1D
— Damon Hill (@HillF1) May 5, 2025
Then there’s the all-encompassing matter of money.
At a time when Formula 1 is exploding in Argentina, and the Latin market is in need of a face for all their sponsorship dollars post-Sergio Perez, a young gun like Franco Colapinto practically comes with suitcases of cash.
Jack Doohan, on the other hand, has proven to be an increasingly expensive employee thanks to a series of crashes – from the opening lap of his home race and the high-speed FP2 exit at Suzuka Circuit, Japan; to his Turn 1 collision with fellow antipodean battler Liam Lawson at this past weekend’s Miami Grand Prix (the incident that was allegedly Alpine’s final straw).
If we examine this unemotionally from an investment standpoint, the choice is crystal clear. Though that still doesn’t make the decision any more palatable. And it also wouldn’t be the first time Alpine has fumbled a promising Aussie driver by not giving them the support they deserve.
Now read our interview with Jack Doohan and his legendary father Mick on the “political game” of Formula 1 here.
