After months of speculation Alpine has dropped their rookie driver Jack Doohan in favour of Franco Colapinto. Rumours of the swap began circulating even before the season began, amping up the pressure on the young Australian driver. After the team signed Franco Colapinto, the driver who filled in at Williams at the end of last season, as their Reserve Driver, many made up their minds that he was waiting in the wings for Doohan to underperform. Alpine say they shall evaluate Colapinto’s performance after the British Grand Prix, indicating that even he is not secure in the seat.
Just weeks ago, Doohan himself spoke to media, praising Alpine for, at least internally, taking the pressure off, thus allowing him to perform. In his seven grand prix starts, Doohan is yet to score, but has shown good pace at times. He has proved costly for the team, making errors and even crashing out. He retired, due to crashes, in both the Australian and Miami Grand Prix, which proved expensive for the French team.
But what about Colapinto? Near the end of last season, after Williams dropped Logan Sargeant, he was called up to fill in. Driving from the 2024 Italian Grand Prix until the end of the season, Colapinto was adamant that we would not see him in a full time seat this season, although the tides have changed. Competing in nine grand prix and amassing five points, his record is currently better than that of Doohan.
Before this announcement, Alpine refused to comment on Doohan’s future, reigniting furiously discussions about a potential driver swap. This time, the rumours have bore fruit, adding a 21st driver into the championship standings for the 2025 season.
Alpine Team Principle, Oliver Oakes, left the team yesterday. Could this be due to this situation?
Written by Alexandra.
Featured Image Credit: bbc.co.uk/sport
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