Jack Doohan starts the 2025 F1 season as the driver under the greatest pressure. It’s believed that his contract only covers the early races.
There’s a possibility that Franco Colapinto could replace Doohan at the Miami Grand Prix in less than two months’ time. Colapinto joined as reserve driver after his stint at Williams in the second half of 2024.
Speaking ahead of the Australian Grand Prix – his new signing’s home race, incidentally – Flavio Briatore said the ‘stopwatch will decide’ Doohan’s future. There has been talk that Colapinto’s commercial backing will be key.
However, Alpine are making limited progress with Colapinto’s sponsors after initially signing a deal with Mercado Libre. It may, therefore, come down to a straight sporting shoot-out.
He may be a graduate of the Red Bull driver programme, but Helmut Marko doesn’t think Doohan will last the season. Alpine tried to sign Carlos Sainz last year before promoting their reserve driver instead as a replacement for Esteban Ocon.
F1 paddock insider Craig Slater says Doohan has been fired up by the Colapinto questions. Perhaps that will make for a strong performance in Melbourne.
Jolyon Palmer slams Alpine for signing four reserve drivers below Jack Doohan
Speaking on F1TV’s ‘Weekend Warm-Up‘ show, Jolyon Palmer expressed his sympathy for Doohan. Palmer drove for the team when they were known as Renault.
Doohan appeared in the pre-race press conference on Thursday and was predictably asked about the speculation. He insists he’s under contract for the full season and hinted at an option for 2026 too.
Palmer is unhappy that his future is in doubt ‘based on nothing’. But he thinks the 22-year-old can silence the noise if he compares well to Pierre Gasly in Australia.
| CATEGORY | COL | DOO |
| Total races | 22 | 53 |
| Win % | 4.5% | 11.3% |
| Pole % | 0% | 9.4% |
| Podium % | 13.6% | 20.8% |
| Points per race | 4.4 | 5.6 |
On Tuesday, Alpine announced that Kush Maini would join their reserve pool for 2025. He joins Colapinto, Paul Aron and Ryo Hirakawa in what Palmer called a ‘ridiculously’ bloated roster.
“It sucks for him, honestly,” he said. “Coming here for a debut at his home race as well, to have to even bat those questions away. He hasn’t turned a wheel this season in competitive order.
“To have those questions based on nothing, it’s just horrible for Jack. The way he shuts them up is doing a good job on track. If he has a good race this weekend, he won’t be having the same question in China.
He added: “Also, four reserve drivers is ridiculous!”
What Mick Doohan has told Martin Brundle about son’s Formula 1 future at Alpine
One journalist claims Doohan has to be within three-tenths of Gasly in the first three races to keep his seat. That’s a somewhat arbitrary measure given the varying length of the Australia, China and Japan tracks.
Gasly offers a formidable benchmark after finishing inside the top 10 in last year’s championship. He boasts one win, five podiums and 436 points across his 153 career starts.
Even if he makes it through the early checkpoints, the Colapinto links are bound to persist.
His father Mick privately spoke to Martin Brundle about his situation before the Australian GP. Doohan is ‘calm’ behind the scenes, with Alpine reassuring him he’s their man for 2025.
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