Franco Colapinto and Paul Aron’s private Alpine test produced one clear winner amid Jack Doohan pressure

Alpine have started the 2025 Formula 1 season in the worst possible fashion and remain the only team without a point after the first three race weekends.

Pierre Gasly narrowly missed out on a top 10 finish in Australia and China before his disqualification, and a botched pit stop at the Japanese Grand Prix scuppered his chances at Suzuka.

His new teammate, Jack Doohan, has had an even tougher time on the other side of the garage.

Doohan’s seat has been under pressure before the season even started, with Alpine hiring several reserve drivers over the winter break including Franco Colapinto and Paul Aron.

Ryo Hirawaka was handed Doohan’s car for FP1 in Japan, but he’s now moved on to join Haas after he took away a valuable hour of preparation time for the Australian.

Doohan then suffered a massive crash during practice, costing Alpine more money after his shunt on the opening lap in Melbourne.

Amid these mistakes, Alpine are preparing two of their drivers behind the scenes in case they need to make a switch sooner rather than later.

READ MORE: Who is Alpine F1 driver Jack Doohan? All to know from his girlfriend to dad

Franco Colapinto and Paul Aron take part in Alpine test at Monza

A report from Motorsport Italia has shared more details about the test that took place at Monza over the weekend.

It’s understood that the test was organised before Doohan’s mistake during Friday practice in Japan, rather than being a consequence of his error.

Initially, Colapinto was meant to keep the test a secret, and refused pictures with fans who had arrived at the track. However, he then went on to share a video of the test on his social media channels and then started taking photos with anyone who arrived at the circuit.

Colapinto and Aron took part in ‘identical’ programmes during their days of running as they got used to the car.

The Argentinian’s best time was 0.5 seconds quicker than Aron’s during their qualifying laps, while during their longer race simulations, Colapinto was 0.7 seconds faster.

Alpine rate Aron extremely highly, but the Estonian driver has very little experience compared to Colapinto.

That is likely to ultimately count against him if Alpine decide to make a switch over the next few weeks.

READ MORE: Who is Alpine reserve driver Franco Colapinto? Everything to know

Jack Doohan under serious pressure to avoid Franco Colapinto switch at Alpine

Colapinto’s testing day at Monza wasn’t perfect, as at one point he suffered a lock-up at the Ascar chicane and ended up in the gravel.

Aron didn’t make any mistakes according to the report, but if he wasn’t capable of pushing as hard as Colapinto, then that’s ultimately going to count against him.

Doohan was under the impression that the race in Japan could be his last Grand Prix, such is the pressure being put on him to succeed at Alpine.

Flavio Briatore has never been someone who shies away from making a difficult decision, and Red Bull swapping Liam Lawson for Yuki Tsunoda after the first double-header only confirms how cut-throat Formula 1 can be.

Colapinto may not have as much experience as Doohan when it comes to specifically driving Alpine’s Formula 1 cars, but his nine races at the end of 2024 trump the four events the Australian has taken part in.

That might end up making Alpine’s mind up if the 22-year-old fails to beat Gasly in any of the coming races.

Alpine need two drivers capable of scoring points, and Colapinto is doing everything he can to show that he could be the stronger option heading into the rest of the campaign.