Alpine made one critical Jack Doohan ‘error’ before replacing him with Franco Colapinto says former team boss

Jack Doohan lost his Formula 1 seat after just six races in 2025. The Aussie failed to score points as he struggled to string together race weekends.

The pressure was on the 22-year-old before he had even stepped into the A525. Franco Colapinto was signed by Alpine on a long-term contract as a reserve driver over the winter.

With the Argentine impressing at Williams last season and Doohan allegedly having a six-race contract, it seemed inevitable that a driver swap would happen at some point in 2025. In the opening six Grand Prix, the Aussie had been displaying some encouraging signs.

Doohan kept pace with experienced teammate Pierre Gasly, outqualifying him for the first time in Miami. However, several crashes hampered his progression and proved costly to Alpine – they have scored just seven points thus far in 2025.

Oliver Oakes wanted to keep Doohan and give him until the summer break, but Flavio Briatore was pushing to get Colapinto into the car. After Oakes resigned as team principal, although unrelated to Doohan, it was obvious what decision Alpine had taken.

Colapinto will drive for the next five rounds, as Alpine will assess their driver pool at Silverstone. The pressure proved too much for Doohan as he drops back to a reserve role.

Former Alpine boss Marcin Budkowski says Jack Doohan was announced ‘way too early’

Doohan was the first driver to be promoted from the Alpine academy into a full-time F1 seat. The Enstone outfit have a bad history with losing top talent.

Alpine famously lost Oscar Piastri to McLaren in 2022 and also saw two-time champion Fernando Alonso join Aston Martin the following year. Former boss Marcin Budkowski says the team wanted to ‘show confidence’ in their junior programme.

Doohan was announced as an Alpine driver for 2025 in August last year. Speaking via Racing News 365, Budkowski says the team made an ‘error’ announcing him ‘way too early’.

“There’s a lot to be said. Did Jack get a proper chance? Probably not. I mean, in all fairness to Jack and I don’t want to be saying bad things about anyone, I have huge respect for all these guys,” he said.

“But I think the error of Alpine was not the driver change now, or etc. It was confirming Jack way too soon last year. I think they were still bruised by Fernando leaving and the missed announcement for Oscar.

“And they just wanted to show confidence, ‘we have a driver academy and Jack is at the top of that and we’re going to promote from within’.

“I think there was no need to announce Jack when they announced him. I think there was plenty of time to look at the other options, I don’t think Jack was going anywhere because he was under contract and I don’t think any other team was actually looking actively at hiring him.”

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Is Franco Colapinto the answer to Alpine’s woes in 2025?

Many people believe that Doohan should have been afforded more time at Alpine, including those within the team. Alpine engineers felt Doohan was ‘nearly there’ and would have improved results with more races.

But his crashes proved costly as he could not put together a strong weekend with points. Colapinto has experience in grabbing points in midfield cars from his time at Williams, but he also possesses a damaging similarity to his predecessor.

Colapinto was highly crash-prone at Williams and he kept that trait up on his Alpine debut at Imola, crashing in Q1. Doohan and Esteban Ocon embraced in the paddock shortly after the Argentine’s accident.

The 21-year-old is a talented driver, no doubt, but his crashes could hamper Alpine’s progression in 2025 and his F1 career. Colapinto must stop having expensive crashes if he wants to stay beyond his five-race deal; Paul Aron is waiting in the wings to take his spot.