Jack Doohan is now likely to start his final race for Alpine at the Japanese Grand Prix as Flavio Briatore has scheduled a private race to pick his replacement from Bahrain.
F1 heads to Suzuka this weekend for only round three of the 2025 season, yet the Japanese GP will already mark the first driver change of the campaign as Red Bull have replaced Liam Lawson with Yuki Tsunoda. Their decision has even now inspired Briatore to make a change.
Executive adviser Briatore believes Alpine must also make an early switch to their line-up as a result of Doohan struggling in Australia and China. The 22-year-old crashed on the first lap in Melbourne and was only P14 in Shanghai, before adopting P13 after the disqualifications.
It has long been expected that Franco Colapinto will replace Doohan at Alpine after moving from Williams over the winter. But questions persist at Enstone of who should get the drive, so Briatore has arranged a private race ahead of the Bahrain GP to pick Doohan’s successor.
Franco Colapinto set for private Alpine race test to replace Jack Doohan in Bahrain
F1 Oversteer exclusively reported that Doohan believes the Japanese GP is his final race for Alpine after Red Bull demoted Lawson to Racing Bulls. Now, the writing is very much on the walls as Auto Hebdo says Alpine’s four reserve drivers will race for the seat at Magny-Cours.
Briatore has grown ‘tired of waiting’ for Doohan to deliver, so will pit Colapinto against Paul Aron, Ryo Hirakawa and Kush Maini after the Japanese GP to decide who comes in from the Bahrain GP. Alpine also received an exemption from the FIA to stage a race amid a TPC test.
READ MORE: Who is Alpine F1 driver Jack Doohan? All to know from his girlfriend to dad
Alpine requested permission from the FIA to run four cars during a Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) session with the A523 to see how their reserve drivers handle a Grand Prix-esque run. They will get one hour of testing and a flying qualifying lap before contesting a 50-lap race.
The race will also feature a safety car period and pit stops to find who is best prepared with Alpine axing Doohan after the Japanese GP. Briatore is not fixed on any one candidate, with Colapinto offering enthusiasm, Aron youth, Hirakawa experience and Maini sponsor money.
Alpine staff split on Franco Colapinto or Paul Aron replacing Jack Doohan
It has long been predicted that Doohan would struggle to see out the 2025 F1 season after Alpine paid Williams £8.5m for Colapinto to join their reserve driver pool. But not everyone at Enstone has coveted the Argentine taking over from the Frenchman if Doohan is to leave.
Some Alpine staff want Aron to replace Doohan instead of Colapinto, who largely impressed over his nine Grand Prix starts for Williams last year upon replacing Logan Sargeant from the Italian GP. He scored five points yet crashes in Sao Paulo and Las Vegas tainted his season.
READ MORE: Who is Alpine reserve driver Franco Colapinto? Everything to know
Even Briatore considers Aron ‘one of the best’ young drivers around after welcoming him to Alpine’s reserve driver pool last year. The 21-year-old also outshined Colapinto in Formula 2 last year, with Aron third in the table on 124 points to his rival’s 96 before graduating to F1.
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