Oliver Oakes and Flavio Briatore now disagree about Jack Doohan’s F1 future amid Franco Colapinto rumours

Jack Doohan has been a driver under pressure even before he had stepped into a Formula 1 car full-time at the end of last season.

The Aussie was signed by Alpine for the 2025 season to replace Esteban Ocon. Not long after, the Enstone squad signed a plethora of reserve drivers alongside Paul Aron, including Franco Colapinto.

Impressing at Williams in 2024, Flavio Briatore signed the Argentine to a long-term contract. Given rumours surrounding Doohan’s contract at the start of the season, many believed Colapinto was being weighed up as a future prospect for the team.

Throughout 2025, speculation has been rife about Doohan’s future and that he could be replaced before the end of the season. His performance on paper leave something to be desired, having failed to score a point thus far.

The 22-year-old has suffered two major accidents this season, which have cost the team millions in damages. Briatore has a good argument to replace Doohan due to his accidents – he is keen to get Colapinto into the car.

Rumours suggested that Alpine could do the swap at the Miami Grand Prix. However, the Aussie is set to race for the team, with their two most senior figures seemingly in disagreement over what to do with Doohan.

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Oliver Oakes wants to keep Jack Doohan at Alpine while Flavio Briatore wants to replace him with Franco Colapinto

While he has not scored any points thus far in 2025, the 22-year-old has been close to teammate Pierre Gasly’s pace at several races. Alpine engineers say Doohan is ‘nearly there’ and want to see him afforded more time.

Team principal Oliver Oakes, who was ‘really annoyed’ by media criticisms of Doohan during the winter, seems to have the same opinion. Journalist Pedro Fermin Flores discussed via his YouTube channel that the boss and Briatore have conflicting opinions about the Aussie’s future.

“The issue of Jack Doohan still being in Miami this weekend has a reason,” he said. “And that is that within the Alpine team, I have been saying for a few weeks now that there is a difference of opinion on the matter.

“There is a part that is in favour of the change, of removing Doohan from the car and there is another part that does not agree and in some way, those who do not agree with removing Doohan base it on the fact that they cannot argue that the Australian has had a poor performance until now.

“That he has not been far from Gasly on some occasions and that despite some obvious problems that have existed and negative points on the superlicense, they do not find all the necessary stability in that performance to qualify it as negative and remove him from the seat.

“That’s the Oliver Oakes part. On the other hand, there’s the issue of Briatore, you know his position, his commitment, his idea, which is being reaffirmed by Horacio [Marin, CEO of Colapinto’s sponsor YPF]. Well, Briatore is up to the task.”

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Jack Doohan will risk losing his F1 seat if he cannot start scoring points in 2025

While Doohan has almost matched Gasly in pace in some races, he does need to start getting his A525 into the points if he wants to stay beyond the summer.

Alpine are looking to retain their sixth place finish in the constructors’ championship in 2025. Thus far, Gasly has scored the team’s six points as they sit joint bottom of the standings.

Doohan’s crashes will soon prove costly if he cannot start challenging for points, with several pundits saying the same thing. Guenther Steiner says Doohan ‘needs to deliver’ if he wants to keep his seat.

It appears Alpine are starting to apply pressure on the Aussie as they privately discuss the possibility of replacing him. Colapinto’s sponsor accidentally suggested he would race in Imola, highlighting that talks are being held about a possible driver swap.