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.
