The pressure is already mounting ahead of the 2025 Formula 1 season starting and after so many driver changes over the winter, every team is hoping they’ve made the right decision with their pairing for the upcoming campaign.
The 2025 F1 grid looks very different to last season and six drivers are about to embark on their first full seasons in the sport.
Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso has now passed the 400 Grand Prix mark and new Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton isn’t far behind him.
Even established stars in the sport aren’t immune from the dangers of the F1 driver’s market, with Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas on the sidelines this year.
It means that any driver who doesn’t live up to expectations is immediately going to be under the spotlight with so many potential options available to team principals.
Alpine made headlines in the winter by adding three new drivers to their ranks with Franco Colapinto by far the most high-profile.
Ryo Hirakawa is immensely experienced and will drive in FP1 at the Japanese Grand Prix, while Paul Aron is considered Alpine’s best prospect by the team’s insiders.
All of these changes mean that Jack Doohan’s position alongside Pierre Gasly is extremely precarious.
Doohan’s contract runs for just a few races and journalist Peter Hardenacke and former driver Ralf Schumacher were discussing his prospects on the Backstage Boxengasse Podcast heading into the Australian Grand Prix.
Ralf Schumacher says Jack Doohan’s F1 career ‘could be over’ after the Australian Grand Prix
Hardenacke was talking about the 22-year-old and said: ‘Funnily enough, I’ve now spoken to someone who actually wanted to bring Jack Doohan into his management to market him and they want to wait and see where things go.
“So that’s not a good signal either. They say that after three, four or five races it will probably be over for Doohan and that Franco Colapinto will take over. What are you hearing?”
Schumacher replied: “I’m not hearing anything at the moment, but I know Flavio.
“If the boy doesn’t perform, he probably wasn’t really strong in the test either, [but] from what I’ve heard, it will pass pretty quickly.
“Flavio knows it himself, it could be over after Australia.”
READ MORE: Who is Alpine F1 driver Jack Doohan? All to know from his girlfriend to dad
Hardenacke continued: “After the last race of the season, I heard Flavio Briatore’s assessment of Gasly and then also of Doohan, who drove his first race there because Ocon had been kicked out, and he just said to Gasly, ’Outstanding, a super race, an outstanding season’, and then he gave his assessment of Doohan’s performance and said, ‘Well, that’s okay.’”
Schumacher delivered a concerning conclusion and said: “That’s why I say, he doesn’t have much of a future now. He’s going to Melbourne now and he’s going to put the pedal to the metal.
“In the first two or three races, of course, he could become a superstar. But it doesn’t look like that at the moment.”
Flavio Briatore holds the key to Jack Doohan’s Formula 1 future
Although Oliver Oakes is the team principal of Alpine, Briatore’s sway within the team’s setup gives him plenty of power when it comes to their driver line-up.
Hiring Colapinto is in line with his previous business in Formula 1 and it’ll be interesting to see just how long he gives Doohan before considering a swap.
Schumacher’s assertion that Doohan could be dropped after his home race is more of a reflection of the brutal nature of the sport, rather than his ability.
READ MORE: All you need to know about Alpine F1 Team from team principal to lineage
Briatore wasn’t impressed with Doohan’s data during pre-season but the Australian’s performance wasn’t far off Gasly’s in Bahrain.
Gasly was one of the standout drivers during testing and comes into the season in red-hot form.
That’s going to make Doohan’s job even more difficult but he could one strong performance in Melbourne will immediately put him on the front foot.
