Jack Doohan has become the first Formula 1 driver to drop off the grid this year after Alpine replaced him with Franco Colapinto ahead of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Yet Juan Pablo Montoya would not be shocked ‘at all’ to see another driver follow Doohan in losing their seat mid-season if their results do not rapidly improve. Alpine elected to demote the 22-year-old back to his reserve role after he failed to score a point in the first six rounds.
Colapinto will now come in to partner Pierre Gasly when the 2025 F1 season hits Europe for the Emilia Romagna GP at Imola on May 16-18. The Enstone outfit have given the Argentine five rounds to prove that the 21-year-old deserves to keep the drive for the rest of the term.
Doohan’s demise in Enstone had long been on the cards after Alpine paid Williams £8.5m to sign Colapinto. It put the Gold Coast native under immense pressure to deliver big results in his rookie year and hardly anyone at Alpine expects Doohan will return after being replaced.
Juan Pablo Montoya tips Red Bull to give Liam Lawson’s Racing Bulls seat to Arvid Lindblad
So, a first-corner collision with Racing Bulls rival Liam Lawson which saw Doohan retire from the Miami Grand Prix could also be the Alpine product’s last F1 race. And Montoya feels the pressure now shifts from Doohan to Lawson to avoid being the next driver replaced in 2025.
READ MORE: Who is Racing Bulls F1 driver Liam Lawson? Everything you need to know
Lawson has already lost one seat this season after Red Bull demoted the 23-year-old back to their junior team in a straight swap with Yuki Tsunoda after two rounds. Yet the Kiwi has struggled to bounce back and, like Doohan, is one of four drivers without a point this season.
Red Bull already have a potential replacement in the wings for Lawson in Arvid Lindblad. The 17-year-old cannot make his F1 debut before turning 18 on August 8 without earning special dispensation from the FIA, so Lawson may get until the summer break to turn things around.
Montoya told AS: “I’ll tell you the truth. If Liam doesn’t improve any further, I wouldn’t be surprised if they put Lindblad in at some point. Not at all. I wouldn’t be a little surprised.
“Honestly, Liam has been given the green light last year and has proven that he has what it takes to do a good job. They gave him the Red Bull seat, and he won it.
“The Red Bull situation was complicated and I think it took a very strong blow to his liver, and he needs a lot of psychological treatment after that. And if he doesn’t recover soon, I’m sure Red Bull will start looking elsewhere because that’s how they work.
“It’s Red Bull, it’s a bit like what’s happening with Alpine right now. Whenever Franco doesn’t do well, the same thing will happen.”
Red Bull could axe Liam Lawson and give Arvid Lindblad his F1 debut from the Dutch Grand Prix
Montoya is not naïve to suggest that Red Bull may promote Lindblad after his rookie season in Formula 2 this year if Lawson cannot deliver. It is also said that Red Bull will drop Lawson if Lindblad impresses in F2 as the latter’s demotion already puts his long-term future at risk.
READ MORE: Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad’s life outside F1 from height to parents
The British-Swedish prospect’s F2 results and his age are the only aspects stopping Red Bull from giving Lindblad his F1 debut, too. Lindblad is eligible for an FIA Superlicence to race in F1 already after winning the Formula Regional Oceania Championship title earlier this year.
Also, Red Bull speak about Lindblad in the same way as they did with Max Verstappen amid the four-time F1 champion’s rise to the pinnacle of motorsport. And the teenager is already showing why in F2 after winning the Sprint Race in Jeddah in his fourth race in the category.
Lindblad even won on his Formula 3 debut last year, with Sprint glory on the Bahrain Grand Prix support bill. He went on to score four wins from 20 races and finished the F3 season in fourth place in the standings after Lindblad took his title bid to the Monza finale as a rookie.
Lawson spent two seasons in F3 and secured a personal-best championship position of fifth in his second year in 2020. The Kiwi also spent two seasons in F2 and was third in the 2022 rankings, before Red Bull initially held Lawson to an F1 reserve driver role in the 2023 term.
His stand-by status saw Lawson debut in F1 with AlphaTauri after Daniel Ricciardo broke his hand in practice for the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix. He also replaced the Australian again racing with the team from the 2024 United States Grand Prix but his third year is not going as well.
Should Lawson continue to struggle through to and including the Hungarian Grand Prix on August 1-3, then Lindblad could take his Racing Bulls seat when F1 visits Zandvoort for the 2025 Dutch Grand Prix on August 29-31 if his Formula 2 results keep encouraging Red Bull.
