Pierre Gasly believes all Jack Doohan has to focus on at Alpine, whether he’s there for five races or a full season, is his driving as 2026’s all-new cars mean even technical feedback isn’t important.

Doohan may have wet his feet at last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix when he filled in for the Haas-bound Esteban Ocon at the final race of the season, but he still heads into F1 2025 as a driver, if not the driver, under the most pressure.

Pierre Gasly: It takes a little pressure off Jack Doohan

According to speculation, Doohan has not been guaranteed a full season in the A525 with his potential replacement already signed, Franco Colapinto.

Alpine executive director Flavio Briatore hasn’t been shy about this, telling Le Parisien: “The only thing we can be sure of is death.

“We’ll start the year with Pierre and Jack, I can guarantee that. After that, we’ll see as the season progresses.”

PlanetF1.com understands that the Australian driver’s continued participation in the F1 2025 campaign will be based on performance, as with every other driver on the grid.

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But while team boss Oliver Oakes told the James Allen on F1 podcast that Doohan will be given “his fair crack”, he admitted that Colapinto is an option for “further down the line.

“For me,” he added, “F1 is fine margins. There’s a load of people who are depending on a driver to deliver each weekend, and we need to make sure we’ve got the best drivers in the race car, not just now, but also in the future.”

But amidst all the speculation, there is a beacon of hope and it comes courtesy of Doohan’s team-mate Gasly.

“The advantage is that with the end of the regulations, our technical feedback will not impact next year’s car,” he told AutoHebo. “On that side, it takes a little pressure off Jack.

“For him, it will be more important to focus on driving.

“Technically, he’s good. Based on what I’ve seen in the last two years, on the simulator tests, he gives good technical feedback every time. Logical.”

Doohan isn’t the only rookie on this year’s grid in a line-up that includes Liam Lawson, Kimi Antonelli, Oliver Bearman, Gabriel Bortoleto and Isack Hadjar.

Gasly is particularly interested in seeing how the latter gets on as he is close with French racer Hadjar and rates the 20-year-old very highly.

“Isack is great, I know him well, I’ve seen him evolve,” Gasly told the publication. “I enjoyed watching him over the last few seasons.

“I’m quite close to him, close to his family, we work with the same people and we had a few dinners at the end of last year.

“I think he has a lot of talent. He’s very fast. He knows the things he needs to work on. But it’s going to be interesting to see his debut in Formula 1 and his evolution.”

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