Alpine Makes Driver Change for Upcoming Races

The Alpine F1 team has announced that Franco Colapinto will replace Jack Doohan for the next five races of the 2025 season, starting at the Emilia Romagna GP in Imola. After six challenging race weekends, Doohan has been relieved of his duties due to inconsistent performance.

Struggling Doohan Replaced by Colapinto

Despite outqualifying team-mate Pierre Gasly at the Miami Grand Prix last weekend, Doohan’s involvement in a Turn 1 tangle with Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson ended his race prematurely. This incident added to his string of on-track incidents this season. With Alpine showing potential with Gasly’s seventh place finish at the Bahrain Grand Prix, the team is now looking to get both cars into scoring positions by replacing Doohan with Colapinto.

As a bonus, Colapinto also brings significant backing from his home country of Argentina. The new driver will race from Imola onwards for the next five races, with a review taking place after the Austrian Grand Prix. Doohan will return to his previous reserve driver role.

Briatore Speaks on Driver Change

Executive advisor Flavio Briatore, who now fully leads the team following Oliver Oakes’ resignation, explained the decision: “With the field being so closely matched this year, and with a competitive car, 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.

Colapinto’s Reaction

Colapinto expressed his gratitude for the opportunity: “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.

Colapinto’s Previous F1 Stint

Ever since 2024 Williams reserve Colapinto was signed by Alpine over the winter, speculation about an early driver change at the team has been rife. Colapinto made an immediate impact during his nine-race stint with , scoring points in Baku and Austin. However, his inexperience also showed in violent crashes in Las Vegas and Brazil, which initially sparked interest from Red Bull but eventually deterred them. Alpine then signed the 21-year-old as a reserve driver over the off-season.

Second In-Season Driver Change of the Year

This is the second in-season driver change this year, following Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda’s swap between Red Bull and Racing Bulls after just two race weekends.