Jack Doohan’s seat at Alpine is already under pressure following the decision by the team to employ Franco Colapinto as their reserve driver.
Colapinto got the nod after an impressive six races with Williams, in which he scored points at outings for the Azerbaijan and US Grands Prix.
Although Colapinto failed to finish in three of the final four races, he still made an impression on prospective teams including Red Bull and eventually Alpine.
Doohan suffered from an underwhelming start in Abu Dhabi, when Alpine granted him an early start because Esteban Ocon wanted to test with Haas post-season.
With Colapinto being aligned as one of their reserve drivers, Peter Windsor thinks Alpine team executive advisor Flavio Briatore is doing something that he last did with Michael Schumacher.
Flavio Briatore doing what he did with Michael Schumacher with Franco Colapinto
When Briatore was in charge of Alpine under its Benetton guise, he was responsible for bringing Michael Schumacher to the team in 1991 to replace Roberto Moreno.
Schumacher had become available when Eddie Jordan only offered him a race-by-race contract for the rest of 1991, while Briatore was giving in a salaried contract.
Windsor has drawn similarities to what happened with Moreno when discussing what the likely outcome might be for Doohan if he fails to perform out of the box.
“Quite a lot of pressure on all these young guys, least of all Jack Doohan. What is that all about? Jack Doohan was confirmed as the race driver for Alpine and he’s barely had time, then the news comes through that Franco Colapinto will be waiting in the wings and will probably be in the car within five or six races,” said Windsor.
“Remember what Flavio did to Roberto Moreno in 1991, he was doing a really good job and was running second in his first race. Suddenly, Michael Schumacher was on the market and Flavio immediately sent him off to market and put Schumacher in the car. There is so much hoopla around Franco Colapinto, it could happen.”
Jack Doohan told what he must do to save his F1 seat
Doohan’s contract with Alpine may only run for just six races, which means every Grand Prix will be important for the Australian to make an impression on whether the team decides to continue.
He spent most of last year on the sidelines running in private testing, with Alpine spending millions on Doohan’s test programme, and getting opportunities in FP1.
READ MORE: Who is Alpine F1 driver Jack Doohan? All to know from his girlfriend to dad
Doohan has now been told that he must at least match teammate Pierre Gasly if he wants to save his F1 seat, which will be no easy task.
Gasly was one of the most consistent drivers last year, earning a podium at the Sao Paulo GP that effectively sealed them sixth in the Constructors’ Championship along with Esteban Ocon.
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