Martin Brundle shares what he would have done with Jack Doohan as Alpine boss, ‘he has shown flashes’

Alpine have confirmed that Franco Colapinto will partner Pierre Gasly for at least the next five races. Jack Doohan has returned to a reserve role.

F1 Oversteer broke the news on Monday that Alpine were considering a swap. That is now official, with Doohan the second driver to lose his seat mid-season after Liam Lawson in April.

Colapinto is back in an F1 car after a nine-race stint at Williams in 2024. The Argentine scored five points after replacing Logan Sargeant.

Alpine have signed him on a long-term loan from their midfield rivals. They plan to re-evaluate their driver line-up before the British GP in July.

The news comes after Flavio Briatore assumed team principal responsibilities following Oliver Oakes’ resignation. Alpine also have Paul Aron and Kush Maini on their books as reserves.

Martin Brundle says Alpine should have kept Jack Doohan until the summer break

Speaking on Sky Sports’ F1 podcast shortly before the Wednesday morning announcement, Martin Brundle offered his verdict. He isn’t entirely sure on Briatore’s motive.

It was reported last year that Colapinto offers a £25m sponsorship package. He did also rack up a seven-figure crash bill at Williams, though, to offset those commercial incentives.

What’s more, Briatore was struggling to bring Colapinto’s partners on board at Alpine. But Doohan has stuttered on track, failing to score a point and damaging the car on multiple occasions.

Still, Brundle suggested it would have been fair to give the rookie at least until the summer break to prove himself. F1 is a ‘brutal business’, but he had shown some promise, not least in Miami GP qualifying when he outpaced Gasly.

“Is it about money?” Brundle said. “Has Colapinto really got this money? Colapinto dismantled a few Williams, didn’t he, but showed a lot of potential.

“As I understand it, Flavio is actually part of Jack Doohan’s management team, which is slightly clouding the issue. If he’s not able to get the job done, then they’ll have to make a change.

“You kind of think ‘give him to the summer break’ as a rookie to find his feet and show what he can do. He has shown flashes of speed and potential, but this is a brutal business. It’s not a finishing school, it’s Formula 1.”

Anonymous source speaks out on Flavio Briatore’s underhand Franco Colapinto tactic

Oakes resigned after Alpine leaked news of Doohan’s sacking at the end of the Miami GP weekend. He had been the 22-year-old’s biggest advocate within the walls of Enstone.

Alpine have been one of F1’s least stable teams in recent years. The table below recaps some of the biggest stories.

Briatore has been responsible for big-picture decisions since his surprise return to F1 last year as an advisor to Renault CEO Luca de Meo. The plan to sign Doohan was already in motion when he joined.

According to a report, Briatore was desperate to sign Colapinto and hatched an underhand plan to expose Doohan’s weaknesses. He threw him into an early Abu Dhabi GP debut at short notice, though he may say this was a deliberate test of his new driver’s mettle.