Alpine confirm Colapinto to replace Doohan

Alpine have confirmed that Franco Colapinto will replace Jack Doohan for the next five race weekends, starting from this weekend’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, with the team deciding to “rotate” the race seat alongside Pierre Gasly.

The news comes following the confirmation that Alpine Team Principal Oliver Oakes had resigned with immediate effect.
Executive Advisor Flavio Briatore will be covering the duties previously performed by the Brit.

Having previously served as a reserve driver for the Enstone based team, it was announced last summer that Doohan was set to be promoted to the main race squad for 2025.

The 22 year old was then given an earlier-than-expected debut at the 2024 season finale in Abu Dhabi, following the departure of Haas-bound Esteban Ocon.

After starting his first full-time campaign this year, Doohan has struggled to match teammate Gasly, and his troubles continued last time out in Miami, where he retired from the race following a lap 1 collision with Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson.

Now Alpine have announced that Doohan’s seat will be filled by Colapinto for the next five rounds with the Argentinian having been signed to the outfit as one of their roster of reserve drivers following his impressive nine-race run as a substitute for Williams in 2024.

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.
Alpine’s statement.

Firstly, I want to thank the team for giving me the opportunity to drive competitively for the next five races. 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. 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.
Colapinto on the news.

I am very proud to have achieved my lifelong ambition to be a professional Formula 1 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.
Doohan on the news.