Alpine may have signed Jack Doohan for 2025 due to ‘massive PR disaster’

Jack Doohan will be one of six new full-time drivers on the F1 grid in 2025 after signing with Alpine.

The Aussie is the first driver to graduate from the team’s academy into a race seat. Doohan will partner with Pierre Gasly after replacing Esteban Ocon.

The 22-year-old was afforded his debut at the 2024 season finale in Abu Dhabi to allow Ocon to join Haas. Qualifying at the back and finishing 15th, Jolyon Palmer was unimpressed by Doohan’s debut while Gasly finished seventh and secured a top-10 finish in the standings.

But the outing at the Yas Marina Circuit allowed Alpine to test their 2025 signing in a race situation. Doohan had already fended off Mick Schumacher in private tests to get the seat next to Gasly.

The Aussie has been preparing extensively for the 2025 campaign, including a secretive test in Barcelona alongside Ferrari and McLaren – who were conducting Pirelli tyre tests for 2026. Alpine were impressed by Doohan’s work behind the scenes and he will be looking to make an impact at his home race in Australia.

He will need to given the pressure that is already on his shoulders. Doohan’s contract is allegedly only for six races, giving him limited time to prove himself as other drivers wait in the wings to get their chance.

Alpine did not want to repeat Oscar Piastri ‘massive PR disaster’ with Jack Doohan

For the 2025 season, Alpine will have Paul Aron, Ryo Hirakawa and Franco Colapinto as their reserve drivers. Given his experience with Williams last year and commercial value from Argentina, Colapinto is the heavy favourite to replace Doohan.

Flavio Briatore posted about Colapinto’s first TPC test with Alpine on social media but did nothing for Doohan’s – which could be very telling for the Aussie’s future.

The Enstone-based outfit announced Doohan as a 2025 driver in August last year, which begs the question of why they signed him if they were going to bring in three other drivers behind him. Journalist Nate Saunders thinks it was to avoid another ‘massive PR disaster’ like Oscar Piastri.

Many F1 fans will remember how Piastri publicly denied he had signed a contract with Alpine for 2023 – despite the team announcing him – before joining McLaren. Speaking on the ESPN UK YouTube channel, Saunders says the team did not want to repeat that with Doohan.

“So they felt he should be able to come in and adapt quickly. Formula 1 is a sink-or-swim business and Abu Dhabi did feel a little bit like that. It almost kind of coloured their decision.

“I think they still would have got Colapinto anyway, but out of all of these rookies, he’s the one you worry for a little bit.

“I don’t think anyone at Alpine has ever truly looked at Doohan in the same way they were looking at Piastri a few years ago.

“And I don’t know about you but promoting him, it did seem like they were like: ‘Right, we lost Piastri a few years ago, we bungled that, it was a massive PR disaster for the team. Let’s make sure we don’t do that again”.

Why is Jack Doohan already under pressure at Alpine?

As a rookie, Doohan would have been under pressure to deliver results at Alpine anyway. Now with Colapinto, Aron and Hirakawa in the background, the 22-year-old will have to step up to save his seat.

Briatore is a keen admirer of Colapinto after seeing him in action at Williams last year – he scored five points in nine races. The ex-Benetton and Renault boss has fought hard to bring the Argentine to the team with Colapinto costing Alpine £8.4m.

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With that price tag and a long-term contract to go with it, it is hard to imagine Colapinto will be on the sidelines for very long. Notorious for dropping drivers mid-season earlier in his career, Briatore could make another brutal driver swap in 2025.

Williams boss James Vowles says Doohan deserves a chance to prove himself, but stresses that Colapinto is there if the Aussie cannot deliver.

Doohan must match Gasly in 2025 to save his seat. While his appearance in Abu Dhabi last season is little to go off at this stage, keeping up with or even beating the Frenchman will be a huge ask for the 22-year-old.