Although Jack Doohan will start the season as an Alpine F1 driver, Roberto Merhi doubts that he’ll still be in the car come race five, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Doohan is facing arguably one of the most difficult build-ups to a new season with a barrage of rumours that his days at Alpine are already numbered.

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Signed by the team last August, rumours that Doohan’s seat was under threat emerged when Alpine executive director Flavio Briatore was spotted speaking with Williams’ super sub Franco Colapinto in the Qatar paddock.

The Argentinean driver impressed F1 bosses during his nine-race stint with Williams as he scored five points before a spate of crashes took the shine off. But while Red Bull’s interest in Colapinto waned, Briatore was still said to be keen on signing the 21-year-old.

His meeting with the driver, which was caught on camera by PlanetF1.com’s man-on-the-ground Thomas Maher, added fuel to rumours that Doohan was guaranteed all of four races, maybe six, before Alpine re-evaluated the situation.

Briatore’s comments to Le Parisien did nothing to silence it.

“The only thing we can be sure of is death,” he told the French publication. “W’ll start the year with Pierre and Jack, I can guarantee that. After that, we’ll see as the season progresses.”

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That he signed Colapinto as the team’s official F1 2025 reserve driver only days after that interview added weight to the whispers, and pressure onto Doohan’s shoulders.

Alpine team boss Oliver Oakes did try to calm the situation, pointing the finger at “keyboard warriors” as he insisted Doohan would be given a “fair” shot at holding onto the Alpine race seat.

“It’s been a little bit harsh on Jack, some of the stuff that was written by the keyboard warriors there, and he’ getting his fair crack at it,” he told the James Allen on F1 podcast.

“And I think the intention there isn’t to put [pressure] on his shoulders. It’ genuinely to give the team options further down the line.”

“For me,” he added, “F1 is fine margins. There’s a load of people who are depending on a driver to deliver each weekend, and we need to make sure we’v got the best drivers in the race car, not just now, but also in the future.”

Mehri believes that could be near future, not long-term future.

“Alpine?” the former F1 driver said in his F1 2025 predictions to Marca. “We’ll see if Jack Doohan starts the year, but I think he won’t be there in five races.”

Based on Mehri’s timeline, Doohan has just four races; Australia, China, Japan and Bahrain, to stamp his authority on the Alpine seat.

He made it clear to Sky Sports News, he’s not just going to just hand the seat over to Colapinto or any other driver.

“Yeah, I’m very motivated,” Doohan said last month. “I look forward, to be honest, just to getting on track and doing the work with my hands and my feet and steering that car as best as I can.

“I look forward to just cementing my place here for the future.”

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