Jack Doohan enters the Bahrain Grand Prix second from bottom in the F1 drivers’ championship. He’s one of five drivers yet to score a point.
Importantly, teammate Pierre Gasly is also on that list. After impressing in pre-season testing, Alpine have been a major disappointment so far in 2025.
But while Gasly has done more or less what could be expected, Doohan has had a scruffy start to his rookie year. He crashed heavily in practice for the Japanese GP last weekend.
He was cleared to race and managed to finish 15th, though he needed help climbing out of his cockpit as he felt the after-effects of his shunt. He’d also crashed out of his home race in Australia, with multiple drivers caught out in treacherous conditions.
In between those two races, Doohan managed to accumulate four penalty points at the Chinese GP, which means he’s already a third of the way to a race ban. He was perhaps overly aggressive as he fights to keep his seat.
There was a sign of promise from the 22-year-old in Shanghai when he beat Gasly in Sprint qualifying. He hasn’t necessarily looked slow, he’s simply made too many mistakes.
Jack Doohan could lose Alpine seat if he crashes at Bahrain Grand Prix
It was reported during the off-season that Doohan has only short-term contract. The Bahrain Grand Prix will be his fifth start – he made an early debut in Abu Dhabi last year.
According to the Metro’s F1 columnist Adam Hay-Nicholls, Doohan has a ‘target on his back’ heading into this weekend’s race. A ‘dreadful start’ has put him on the brink.
Hay-Nicholls believes that he’ll ‘likely’ be replaced by Franco Colapinto if there are more ‘broken bits’ on his car this weekend. Colapinto is the prime candidate after arriving as a reserve driver in the winter.
The race in Bahrain is the second leg of a triple header before the Saudi Arabian GP next week. Miami a fortnight later may be a better opportunity to make any change, affording the driver more time to prepare.
Alpine’s repair bill after Jack Doohan crash emerges amid Franco Colapinto rumours
Mark Webber immediately spotted that Doohan still had the DRS open before he spun into the barriers at Suzuka. There are murmurs that this may have been a fault with the car rather than driver error.
Still, Doohan’s crash cost Alpine £1.3m and it seems that their patience is running out. The team have to be wary of the cost-cap, and Flavio Briatore has already tried to cut expenditure by ditching the works engine operation.
Last year, Pierre Gasly went a whole year without damage, but Briatore took a chance on a rookie and he shouldn’t be surprised that he’s had some early incidents. A clean weekend at Sakhir looks essential.
Ted Kravitz says Alpine may give Doohan until Miami to prove himself. Liam Lawson lost his Red Bull seat after just two races, but he remained on the grid with sister team Racing Bulls.
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