Alpine Teammates Set to Race in 2025, Gasly Offers Support to Rookie Driver Doohan

In an exciting turn of events for the 2025 Formula 1 season, Jack Doohan has been announced as a teammate to Pierre Gasly at Alpine. This change comes as Esteban Ocon moves to Haas, partnering with Ollie Bearman. The pressure is mounting on Doohan, who faces the challenge of his first F1 race in front of his home crowd and rumors suggesting that reserve driver Franco Colapinto may replace him if he fails to impress.

Gasly Offers Encouragement and Guidance to His New Team Mate

Speaking to the media, including Motorsport.com, Gasly expressed his support for Doohan, drawing parallels with his former teammate and good friend, Yuki Tsunoda. “I think Jack is slightly more prepared than Yuki was at the time,” said Gasly. “Still, arriving and landing in F1 with different challenges, so I try to support Jack in the way I can.”

Emphasizing the importance of enjoying the experience, Gasly shared his perspective on managing pressure. “He’s a great guy. I think he’s got talent, and there’s been already so much talk. It’s important to just let him be. At the end of the day, we’ve got the best job in the world, we’re supposed to be here and enjoy every single second being an F1 driver, which is not always easy in this environment.”

Steiner Dismisses Rumors Surrounding Doohan and Colapinto

Former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner swiftly addressed the rumors surrounding Doohan and Colapinto. “I think the pressure comes from outside,” he said. “A lot of these things which are happening in F1 is like someone said, ‘Oh, he has got only six races, and then it will be decided’. Somebody said it, somebody repeated it, and it got bigger and bigger.”

Steiner emphasized that the pressure is not exclusive to Doohan. “Obviously, in F1, it’s not only him under pressure; everyone needs to perform. If he performs, he will be fine, there will be no problem.” He also dismissed the rumors as an exaggerated speculation, suggesting they may have originated from misinformed sources seeking attention.

Steiner offered words of encouragement to Doohan, advising him to stay calm, focus on his racing skills, and let his performance speak for itself. “Jack needs to stay calm, do what he’s good at, race cars, and then the performance will come, and he will be here to stay.”

A Shared Understanding of Pressure Between Gasly and Tsunoda

In a light-hearted moment, Gasly shared a realization he had recently with Tsunoda. “It’s funny because I saw Yuki in the car park two days ago and he was mentioning, he said, ‘ah, no, I understand what you felt with me when I joined Formula One. I must have been a pain because now I got Hadjar coming in and I see what it’s like.'”

This exchange underscores the shared experience of joining F1 and the unique pressures that come with it, as both Gasly and Tsunoda have navigated their way through the competitive world of Formula 1.