A €10million sponsor of Jack Doohan could be behind Alpine’s decision to keep faith in the rookie for the first half of the F1 2025 season.

That is the claim of Ralf Schumacher, the former F1 racer, who has reiterated his stance that Doohan is “not good enough for Formula 1.”

Jack Doohan’s Alpine seat understood to be safe for now

Doohan began the new season facing an uncertain future amid speculation that the Australian could be replaced by Franco Colapinto, the highly rated Alpine reserve driver, after just a select number of races.

Despite finishing no higher than 13th across the first five rounds of F1 2025, Doohan’s pace has impressed alongside established team-mate Pierre Gasly.

Reports over the winter claimed that Doohan’s initial deal for this season covered only the first six races, which, if true, would have taken him no further than next weekend’s Miami Grand Prix.

Pierre Gasly vs Jack Doohan: Alpine head-to-head scores for F1 2025

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

However, it emerged earlier this month that the 22-year-old’s seat is likely to be safe until at least the summer break in August.

If true, that would take Doohan – dismissed as a C-grade driver by Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko on the eve of F1 2025 – up to the 14th race of the season in Hungary on August 3.

Appearing on Sky Germany’s Backstage Pit Lane podcast, former Jordan, Williams and Toyota star Schumacher hinted that a sponsorship deal worth €10m could be key to Doohan batting off doubts over his future.

He said: “I don’t want to say it quite as harshly as Dr Marko, who said that he’s a Class C driver. He is not a Class C driver, certainly, he’s a good driver.

“But, in my opinion, not good enough for Formula 1.

“It is still a bit early of course, and he has a very experienced team-mate in Gasly, who is also settled into the team and is receiving support.

“That’s why it’s maybe a bit harsh and unfair, but I would say that in relation to the other rookies, you can see that he’s someone who might not necessarily be competing for the World Championship at some point.

“And if the money doesn’t come in from Colapinto, then I don’t think he will be exchanged for the time being.

“I hear Doohan also has a sponsor worth €10m in the bag and that has to be paid out somehow.

“I can imagine that he will survive somehow, but Flavio [Briatore, Alpine adviser] is always good for a surprise.”

More on Jack Doohan and Alpine from PlanetF1.com

👉 Jack Doohan news

👉 Alpine news

Colapinto, who impressed in a nine-race cameo for Williams last season, recently participated in a TPC test for Alpine at Monza, which fell on the same weekend Doohan crashed heavily in practice at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Reports at the time claimed that Colapinto was 0.5s faster than fellow Alpine reserve Paul Aron over a single lap, with the gap extending to 0.7s over race runs at the Italian Grand Prix venue.

However, PlanetF1.com understands that such comparisons were extremely wide of the mark with such factors as different engine settings, track temperatures, wind direction and track evolution all at play.

It is believed that Aron is in line to carry out some FP1 appearances for Alpine in F1 2025 with the team impressed by the Estonian’s performance.

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