Jack Doohan gets to start his first full season as a Formula 1 driver with a home race in Melbourne.
The Australian Grand Prix takes over hosting duties from Bahrain for the beginning of the 2025 F1 campaign with plenty of new faces on the grid.
Jack Doohan is one of six drivers starting the 2025 season who wasn’t on the grid at the beginning of last year.
After spending last season as Alpine’s reserve driver, doing countless hours in the simulator to help Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon during race weekends, it’s his turn to take to the track.
Doohan took part in a couple of FP1 sessions in 2024 before being thrust into Ocon’s car for the final race in Abu Dhabi.
It was an unexpected opportunity for the young Australian and he came home with a P15 finish while Gasly secured an important seventh place.
The Anglo-French team finished sixth in the constructors’ championship as a result, but are setting their sights even higher going forward.
Alpine have abandoned their Renault power units for 2026 and will use Mercedes engines after this season and Flavio Briatore’s arrival suggests that the team are going to take a cut-throat attitude to racing and their decision making.
Juan Pablo Montoya has seen the F1 driver’s market close up during his time in the sport and given his verdict on Doohan’s future and the potential arrival of Franco Colapinto.
Juan Pablo Montoya says there’s no guarantee Franco Colapinto survives at Alpine if he replaces Jack Doohan
It was put to Montoya on the MontoyAS Podcast that Alpine had just signed MercatoLibre as a sponsor, which produced an ironic, ‘No!’ from the Colombian driver due to the company’s connections with Colapinto.
Montoya was then asked about the questions Doohan faced at the F1 75 event regarding his future and Colapinto’s presence within the team and said: “Let’s see. He has pressure to go fast whether it’s because of Colapinto or whatever.
“It’s more uncomfortable to have Colapinto there, not because Colapinto is Colapinto but because of the rumours that people are talking about.
“If you understand what I’m saying when everyone out there is talking about it.
READ MORE: Who is Alpine reserve driver Franco Colapinto? Everything to know
“The options for Doohan are very simple. If Doohan does a good job, Doohan will not be replaced.
“But where Doohan doesn’t do a good job, they put Colapinto in and I’ll tell you the truth, when they put in Colapinto, if he doesn’t do a good job, they’ll also take him out and start looking for another driver.
“That’s the nature of the sport.”
Jack Doohan warned about his home Formula 1 race by Oscar Piastri
There was a point last season where it looked like Australia might have three drivers on the grid for the first race of the 2025 season.
However, 34 days after Alpine announced Doohan as Ocon’s replacement, RB confirmed that Daniel Ricciardo was being dropped for New Zealander Liam Lawson.
It means that Doohan will be under even more scrutiny from the home fans as he’s only joined on track by McLaren star Oscar Piastri.
READ MORE: Who is Alpine F1 driver Jack Doohan? All to know from his girlfriend to dad
Piastri has admitted he wouldn’t want his first race to be in Australia due to the added pressure but it’s something that he’s now got to deal with.
Doohan only has a short-team deal at Alpine which means every session is going to count across the opening weekends of the season.
Colapinto is expected to be in the car in Miami unless the Australian youngster can show he’s worthy of being kept on.
