Following Alpine’s announcement that Franco Colapinto will replace Jack Doohan from Imola in a five-race audition, Craig Slater claims it’s not just about finding the best line-up, “pretty significant” money was also involved.

Alpine announced on Wednesday that Doohan would return to the reserve driver role that he held last season, dropped from the line-up in favour of putting Colapinto in the A525.

Driver swap billed as next step towards Alpine’s F1 2026 ambitions

The Argentinean driver has been given five races to stamp his authority on the second Alpine seat, Imola to Austria, after which there will be a ‘new evaluation before the British Grand Prix in July’.

All of this, says new Alpine team boss Flavio Briatore, is to ensure that the Enstone team has the best possible line-up in the car ahead of Formula 1’s reset in F1 2026.

“We are in a position where we see the need to rotate our line-up,” said the Italian. “We know the 2026 season will be an important one for the team and having a complete and fair assessment of the drivers this season is the right thing to do in order to maximise our ambitions next year.”

Slater believing nailing down the driver line-up is just the next piece in Alpine’s 2026 ambitions after the team already made the call to scrap their own engine project and run Mercedes power units.

“Alpine think they are going to have a good package next season,” he told The F1 Show, Sky Sports. “They have Mercedes engines and their chassis is already very good.

“They might be one of a quartet of teams that could fight for the championship next year. Some people are even linking Max Verstappen with a move to Alpine, although that seems far-fetched at the moment.

“They believe in [Pierre] Gasly and want to evaluate the best driver pairing for 2026.”

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But there is more to the story he claims, there’s the tale of Colapinto’s Argentinean backers and the money Alpine will receive when he races.

“What I’m learning is that the financial compulsions in all of this have played a big part in him being swapped in for Doohan,” he added.

“The type of cash that Alpine can get is pretty significant. They did pay a fee to Williams to get Colapinto on this five-year loan deal, we believe, and therefore there’s an onus to recoup the money.

“The fact that it’s just for five races is an unusual thing. I think the expectation is that if he does okay, he’ll be there for the rest of the year.”

However, if Colapinto’s falls short, Slater reckons Paul Aron could get an opportunity ahead of putting Doohan back in the car. Although Aron wasn’t mentioned in the Alpine press release, the team did speak of driver ‘rotation’ and a ‘new evaluation before the British Grand Prix in July’.

“They’ve had a look at Jack Doohan,” Slater said. “It’s not out of the question, apparently, but I think it’d be pretty far-fetched for him to come back in the car.”

“There’s also Paul Aron and there’s Colapinto. Aron and Colapinto have had four tests this season in 2023 equipment, so they’ve been able to look at both of their capabilities and fitness for the job, potentially next year.”

Kravitz reveals Miami clues that hinted at Doohan’s exit

Reports that Alpine were considering reached fever pitch on Monday after Doohan crashed out of the Miami Grand Prix after colliding with Liam Lawson.

Alpine were said to be looking at the situation closely ahead of Imola, however, Sky pit lane reporter Ted Kravitz believes the decision had already been made on Monday.

He first became suspicious on the Thursday in Miami when Netflix’s Drive to Survive team descended on Alpine where they were “camped outside” all weekend. He believed his suspicions were then confirmed on Sunday when he popped into Alpine motorsport where he saw Doohan and his father Mick Doohan looking “very upset”.

“Pre-season, the rumour was that Jack had until Imola to make a big impression, that after Miami, a decision would be made,” Kravitz said. “That’s the point we’re at.

“On Thursday, when the drivers appeared for their interviews, suddenly the whole Drive to Survive crew were at home with Alpine, and I thought to myself, ‘That’s a funny choice for a race like Miami, why are they choosing Alpine out of nowhere to be on both drivers?’.

“The producers of Drive to Survive are not idiots. They know the rumours like everyone else, that there might be a driver change after Miami. Also, the programme’s called Drive to Survive, right? There’s nothing Drive to Survive likes more than a driver change.

“And the third bit of completely circumstantial evidence I have for this… the Drive to Survive cameras were camped outside Alpine for the whole weekend.

“After the race, I went into the Alpine motorhome to get a drink before my notebook, and I had to go past Mick Doohan and Jack Doohan standing at the doorway looking, to quote the great Martin Brundle, like they had root canal surgery on a Monday.

“They both looked very upset. That, I thought, was just to do with Jack’s lap one exit. But I thought to be carrying that still with them, a good hour after the chequered flag, and so publicly, was interesting.”

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