Alpine have acted against Flavio Briatore’s judgement by making immediate decision on Jack Doohan’s F1 future

The most under-pressure driver on the grid at the beginning of the 2025 Formula 1 season has to be Alpine rookie Jack Doohan.

Jack Doohan made his Formula 1 debut for Alpine at the end of the 2024 campaign after Esteban Ocon had been unexpectedly jettisoned by Flavio Briatore ahead of his move to Haas.

Doohan had a difficult time in Abu Dhabi that weekend, but it wasn’t entirely his fault, with a few things going against him during a race where every other driver was far more experienced than him.

However, Alpine had already handed Doohan a contract for 2025 to race alongside Pierre Gasly, but the story took a couple of twists over the winter break.

Alpine signed a quartet of reserve drivers, including Franco Colapinto from Williams and the highly-rated Paul Aron.

Doohan made big mistakes in Australia and Japan that cost the team significantly, and after four race weekends, he’s one of four drivers who have yet to score a point.

But, there have been positive signs for the young Australian that appear to have earned him more time on the Formula 1 grid.

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Alpine set to give Jack Doohan until the summer amid Franco Colapinto pressure

A report from The Race has suggested that Doohan will be driving for Alpine until at least the summer.

Ted Kravitz suggested that Doohan had until the Miami Grand Prix to prove he was a better option for Alpine than Colapinto, which he seems to have achieved.

The report suggests that Briatore was ‘keen on Colapinto’, however, others in the Alpine camp were ‘determined’ to give Doohan as much time as possible.

They go on to say that ‘senior trackside figures’ have been blown away by Doohan’s speed and even ‘surprised’ by how close he’s got to Gasly on occasions.

Doohan has also been working well with his engineering team, potentially using the experience he gained as Alpine’s reserve and simulator driver last year to his advantage.

It’s expected that Doohan has until ‘the middle of the season’ to show Alpine that he deserves to see out the rest of the 2025 campaign.

Doohan faced uncertainty about his future as early as the Japanese Grand Prix, but while he has more penalty points than championship points, his relationship with Doohan and determination to overcome setbacks have convinced Alpine to put their faith in the 22-year-old.

READ MORE: All you need to know about Alpine F1 Team from team principal to lineage

Jack Doohan left disappointed with the Bahrain Grand Prix after ‘unfortunate’ safety car

Doohan finished the Bahrain Grand Prix in 14th, despite running in the points for large portions of the race.

He also picked up a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits, but it was the timing of the safety car coming out following the collision between Carlos Sainz and Yuki Tsunoda that really ended his hopes of earning a first top 10 finish.

Speaking in his official post-race interview, Doohan said: “The result today is disappointing, but I am happy that we opened our points tally with Pierre finishing in seventh place.

“The soft and medium tyres felt strong in the race, and we were up to ninth place after the first two stints on those compounds, and it looked positive for us.

“We boxed for the hard to cover some other cars, but the Safety Car was deployed at an unfortunate time, which gave some other cars the chance to change to fresher, softer tyres.

“It was very difficult to keep them behind, we struggled with the rear a bit on that compound, and then we had a time penalty at the end for track limits.”

Doohan will still be aware that the likes of Colapinto and Aron are waiting in the wings for him to slip up.

And while each race weekend is still going to be crucial to securing his future, he’s no longer on an immediate countdown to a critical decision.