The Australian pilot F1 Jack Doohan was officially abandoned by Alpine, the Franco Colapinto rescue driver ready to take place for the next five races of the season.
Rumors had bubbed in recent days according to which the Australian was to be abandoned on the side, with Doohan, the son of the legend of the Mick motorcycle, not having scored a single point in one formula this season.
The decision to rotate the 22 -year -old for the Colapinto rescue driver comes after Doohan collapsed from the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday in the first round.
He also had trouble in Japan, overcoming during the second training session.
Rumors had bubbed in recent days that Doohan had already received the news from his team, but on Wednesday, Alpine officially confirmed that they were examining a different strategy for their range of pilots this season.
“As part of a continuous assessment of its range of pilots, the team has made the decision to rotate one of its racing seats for the next five rounds of the Formula 1 world championship of the FIA 2025,” Alpine said in a statement.
“BWT Formula 1 team therefore announces that Franco Colapinto will be associated with Pierre Gasly from the Grand Prix of Emilia-Romagna, before a new evaluation in front of the British Grand Prix in July.
“Jack Doohan remains an integral part of the team and will be the first choice reserve driver for this period.”
Some fans had estimated that the writing had been on the Doohan wall when Alpine drafted Colapinto as a reserve at the start of the season.
The Queensland’s original racing pilot had already been questioned at the arrival of the 21 -year -old Argentinian driver in January, but had published an icy response, saying that he did not feel “compromised” by the presence of Colarpinto.
On Wednesday, Doohan, who replaced Esteban Ocon at the start of the 2025 season, also published a statement admitting that he was in shock from the decision, but was grateful to the team for his support and would work hard to return to the grid.
“I am very proud to have reached my ambition for life to be a professional Formula 1 pilot and I will always be grateful to the team to have helped me realize this dream,” said Doohan.
“Obviously, this last chapter is difficult to take for me because, as a professional pilot, of course I want to run.
“That said, I appreciate the confidence and commitment of the team. We have long -term goals as a team to reach and I will continue to give my maximum effort in any way possible to achieve it.
“For the moment, I’m going to keep my head down, continue working hard, look at the next five races and continue to pursue my own personal goals.”
The news means that Colapinto will return to the grid of different colors after leaving Williams at the beginning of 2025 after replacing Logan Sargeant to the British race team halfway through the 2024 season.
The team will offer the former Williams five -shop driver to impress next to Gasly, but executive advisor Flavio Briatore said that the team will continue to support Doohan who will remain the team’s reserve driver.
“After examining the opening races of the season, we made the decision to put Franco in the car alongside Pierre for the next five races,” said Briatore.
“The land being so closely equaled this year, and with a competitive car, that the team has improved considerably in the last 12 months, we are in a position where we see the need to run our range.”
Alpine is currently ninth in the seven -point manufacturers’ championship, with Gasly currently 12 in the pilot championship.
“We also know that the 2026 season will be important for the team and having a complete and fair assessment of drivers this season is the right thing to do in order to maximize our ambitions next year,” said Briatore.
“We continue to support Jack in the team, because he has acted in a very professional manner in his role as a racing pilot so far this season. The next five races will give us the opportunity to try something different and after this period, we will assess our options.
More to follow …
