Jack Doohan’s future at Alpine is in doubt as team bosses refuse to shut down growing rumours of an imminent driver change.
Alpine F1’s leadership continues to avoid shutting down rumors that this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix could be Jack Doohan’s final race.
The speculation, stirred further by team advisor Flavio Briatore, has been ongoing since the start of the season. Briatore, who brought in Franco Colapinto on loan from Williams, has done little to quiet the noise around a potential driver switch.
Tensions rose earlier this week when Horacio Marin, president of Argentinian oil giant YPF and a major sponsor of Colapinto, casually mentioned “Imola” when asked about a debut for the young driver.
Team principal Oliver Oakes responded in Miami, but his comments left room for interpretation.
“I’m sure a lot of fans in Argentina would love to see Franco in the car this Sunday,” Oakes said. “But we’ve made it clear as a team that it’s all just noise. Jack needs to keep performing. Naturally, there will always be speculation. For now, Jack is our driver alongside Pierre [Gasly]. That’s our current position. We are constantly evaluating — but that’s the situation today.”
Briatore, who is on-site in Miami this weekend, was asked whether the pressure on Doohan is becoming too much.
“If you’re in Formula 1, you should be able to handle pressure,” he said. “If someone tells me a driver is feeling pressure because someone else might take his seat, then that pressure should drive him to perform. When I arrived at Renault, the deal with Doohan was already in place. I haven’t changed anything.”
Still, like Oakes, Briatore stopped short of denying that Colapinto could soon step into Doohan’s seat.
“We’re assessing things, just like Oliver said,” he confirmed. “We’ll see how the next few races go. We’ve got three drivers — and Paul [Aron] is in the mix too. Let’s see. Drivers carry a lot of responsibility. A whole team’s effort depends on their results. We need to be fair, but they also need to be fair to us.”
When asked whether the decision to put Colapinto on the 2025 grid was already made, Briatore responded, “No, but we’ll keep reviewing the situation over time.”
“We’re six races in now. We just need to get through this weekend, hopefully score some points with at least one car, and then we’ll talk. But I don’t accept the idea that Jack should be under constant pressure. Real pressure is someone working at Fiat earning €2,500 or less a month. That’s real pressure.”
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Doohan Must Earn His Seat, Nothing Is Guaranteed Doohan Must Earn His Seat, Nothing Is Guaranteed