Alpine has confirmed reserve driver Franco Colapinto to drive for selected number of races in 2025 F1 season, replacing Jack Doohan from Emilia Romagna GP onward.
Already in the winter, there were murmurs about Doohan getting six races to showcase his mettle in F1 and potentially retain his seat for whole of the 2025 season. The Alpine management backed the Australian, but kept it open for Colapinto to potentially replace him.
In the lead-up to Miami, one of Colapinto’s sponsors noted about the Argentine racing in Imola. This was put down by Oliver Oakes, but after Doohan’s incident, the news about the Australian getting replaced started to float in good number. So much so, that Alpine has now officially confirmed it.
Colapinto will drive for Alpine from Emilia Romagna GP onward, but there is a catch. The Argentine hasn’t secured the seat for the full 2025 F1 season. He has five races like Doohan to prove his mettle, in order to be retained for races beyond British GP.
Amid this driver news, Alpine announced the departure of team principal Oliver Oakes. The team noted that he resigned from his role, with executive advisor Flavio Briatore taking over his work in interim basis. It is unclear if the Brit’s departure is related to the Doohan/Colapinto situation.
“Having reviewed the opening races of the season, we have come to the decision to put Franco in the car alongside Pierre for the next five races,” said Briatore. “With the field being so closely matched this year, and with a competitive car, which the team has drastically improved in the past 12 months, we are in a position where we see the need to rotate our line-up.
“We also know the 2026 season will be an important one for the team and having a complete and fair assessment of the drivers this season is the right thing to do in order to maximise our ambitions next year. We continue to support Jack at the team, as he has acted in a very professional manner in his role as a race driver so far this season. The next five races will give us an opportunity to try something different and after this time period we will assess our options.”
On the driver front, Colapinto said: “Firstly, I want to thank the team for giving me the opportunity to drive competitively for the next five races. I will work hard with the team to prepare for the next race in Imola and the upcoming triple-header, which will no doubt be intense and a big challenge for everyone.
“I have stayed sharp, and I am as ready as possible with the team’s race support testing programme, as well as on the simulator at Enstone. I will do my best to get up to speed quickly and give it my all to deliver the best possible results alongside Pierre.”
And Doohan added: “I am very proud to have achieved my lifelong ambition to be a professional Formula One driver and I will forever be grateful to the team for helping me achieve this dream. Obviously, this latest chapter is a tough one for me to take because, as a professional driver, naturally I want to be racing.
“That said, I appreciate the team’s trust and commitment. We have long-term goals as a team to achieve and I will continue to give my maximum efforts in any way I can to help achieve those. For now, I will keep my head down, keep working hard, watch with interest the next five races and keep chasing my own personal goals.”
Here’s news on Oliver Oakes
Here’s Jack Doohan on Liam Lawson hit
