“Replacement, replacement, replacement”
Bang at Formula 1 team: Pilot is about to throw out
05.05.2025 – 4:23 p.m.Reading time: 2 min.
Jack Doohan’s weak appearances apparently do not remain without consequences. At the next Grand Prix, another driver could take over the cockpit at Alpine.
The Formula 1 team Alpine is apparently facing a short-term change: Jack Doohan should be replaced by Franco Colapinto at the upcoming race in Imola, Italy (May 16 to May 18), as RTL/NTV and “Sport.de”. The Australian, who did not get beyond rear positions this season, lose its regular place prematurely.
Doohan’s results in the previous races give a sobering picture. Although he showed a lot of performance in qualifying, only four of the previous races were able to end – it was only enough for places 13, 14, 15 and 17 in Melbourne and most recently in Miami, he divided out after accidents. A technical error in the training of Japan, in which he did not close the DRS flap on the rear wing and had a violent accident, also brought him criticism.
Originally, it was assumed internally that Doohan would receive a probation phase by summer. But the latest appearance seems to have finally overused the patience of the team leadership. After the race, the references to an upcoming replacement were condensed.
Even before the Grand Prix in Miami, Flavio Briatore, who functions as a consultant at Alpine, missed a clear position. When asked whether Franco Colapinto was used instead of Doohan in Imola, he only replied: “He is our replacement driver. Replacement, replacement, replacement.”
An official confirmation of the change through alpine has so far been pending. The former Formula 1 driver and today’s Sky expert Ralf Schumacher said before the start of the new season of the “premier class” about Doohan: “I know Flavio (Briatoree, note d. Red.) If the boy does not perform-and he was probably not on the move in the test-then it goes by pretty quickly.”
Even more: The time as a regular pilot for the French racing team could be over for Doohan “to Australia (the Formula 1 season start on March 16, editor’s note)” if he did not call up a convincing performance, said the 49-year-old. There was no such early detachment. But now the days of Doohan in Formula 1 could be counted.