McLaren driver Oscar Piastri claimed that Jack Doohan “should hold his head up high,” during an interview with TODAY’s Karl Stefanovic, which was released before the confirmation from Alpine that the Australian driver had been replaced for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix onwards.
Piastri commented on what were just reports at that time, stating:
“Obviously I’ve seen the talk. If it is the end of the road for Jack, I think he can be very proud—of firstly making it to Formula 1. That’s not an easy thing to do, especially coming from Australia. There are a lot of hard decisions along the way.
“If he has had his final race, then I think hold your head up high. He’s been a F1 driver, and no one can take that away from you so. I’m sure he’ll have a successful career in whatever happens.”
Alpine F1 changes
Alpine has announced multiple big changes this week following the Miami Grand Prix. Doohan’s exit from the full-time seat alongside Pierre Gasly was confirmed on 7 May. The Australian driver has moved back to his role as reserve driver and has been replaced by Williams Academy driver Franco Colapinto for at least the next five races. The French team stated:
“As part of an on-going assessment of its driver line-up, the team has made the decision to rotate one of its race seats for the next five rounds of the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship.
“BWT Alpine Formula One Team therefore announces that Franco Colapinto will be paired with Pierre Gasly from the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, ahead of a new evaluation before the British Grand Prix in July.
Jack Doohan, Alpine
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
“Jack Doohan remains an integral part of the team and will be the first-choice Reserve Driver for this period of time.”
Doohan also commented:
“I am very proud to have achieved my lifelong ambition to be a professional Formula 1 driver and I will forever be grateful to the team for helping me achieve this dream. Obviously, this latest chapter is a tough one for me to take because, as a professional driver, naturally I want to be racing.
“That said, I appreciate the team’s trust and commitment. We have long-term goals as a team to achieve and I will continue to give my maximum efforts in any way I can to help achieve those. For now, I will keep my head down, keep working hard, watch with interest the next five races and keep chasing my own personal goals.”
On top of this, team principal Oliver Oakes resigned from his role on 6 May. The statement from the team confirmed that they had accepted his resignation with immediate effect. Flavio Briatore, who had joined the team last summer as executive advisor, will take up Oakes’ responsibilities.
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