Alpine confirm Colapinto to replace Doohan for next five rounds as team opt to ‘rotate’ seat

Alpine have confirmed that Franco Colapinto will replace Jack Doohan for the next five race weekends, starting from the upcoming Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, with the team deciding to “rotate” the race seat alongside Pierre Gasly.

The news comes following the confirmation on Tuesday evening that Alpine Team Principal Oliver Oakes had resigned with immediate effect. Executive Advisor Flavio Briatore will be covering the duties previously performed by the Briton.

Having previously served as a reserve driver for the Enstone-based team, it was announced last summer that Doohan was set to be promoted to the main race squad for 2025. The 22-year-old was then given an earlier-than-expected debut at the 2024 season finale in Abu Dhabi, following the departure of Haas-bound Esteban Ocon.

After starting his first full-time campaign this year, Doohan has struggled to match team mate Gasly, and his troubles continued last time out in Miami, where he retired from the race following a Lap 1 collision with Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 14: Franco Colapinto, Reserve Driver, Alpine F1 looks on in the garage — Franco Colapinto will race for Alpine over the next five rounds of the 2025 season, starting at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix

Now Alpine have announced that Doohan’s seat will be filled by Colapinto for the next five rounds, with the Argentinian having been signed to the outfit as one of their roster of reserve drivers following his impressive nine-race run as a substitute for Williams in 2024.

“As part of an on-going assessment of its driver line-up, the team has made the decision to rotate one of its race seats for the next five rounds of the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship,” said an Alpine statement.

“BWT Alpine Formula One Team therefore announces that Franco Colapinto will be paired with Pierre Gasly from the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, ahead of a new evaluation before 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 of time.”

ANALYSIS: Why Alpine chose to promote Colapinto and bench Doohan – concluding a dramatic 12 hours after Oakes’ resignation

Doohan has shown flashes of pace but has also had a series of incidents in his seven-race run with Alpine, including his opening lap collision with Lawson in Miami as well as a heavy practice crash in Suzuka, when he failed to close his Drag Reduction System before turning into Turn 1.

Colapinto, meanwhile, returns to the grid following his eye-catching showing in the second half of 2024, where he bagged points for Williams in Azerbaijan and Austin after replacing Logan Sargeant. However, his Williams stint also included heavy crashes in Sao Paulo and Las Vegas.

Speculation over Doohan’s future at the team had been a frequent topic of discussion since Colapinto’s signing as a reserve in January, with Oakes having moved to quash those reports as recently as the Miami Grand Prix weekend.

2025 Miami Grand Prix: Doohan out of the race after Lap 1 clash with Lawson

“Firstly, I want to thank the team for giving me the opportunity to drive competitively for the next five races,” said Colapinto. “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.”

Doohan said: “I am very proud to have achieved my lifelong ambition to be a professional Formula 1 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.”

SHANGHAI, CHINA - MARCH 22: Flavio Briatore, Executive Advisor of Alpine F1 looks on during the — Flavio Briatore has said the team need to ‘rotate’ their line-up to have a ‘complete and fair’ assessment of their drivers ahead of 2026

Flavio Briatore, Alpine’s Executive Advisor, added: “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.

“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.”

POWER RANKINGS: Who shone brightest for our judges during an eventful Sprint weekend at the Miami GP?