Jack Doohan was announced as Alpine’s main driver last season after the team decided not to extend Esteban Ocon’s contract. At the same time, Alpine signed two reserve drivers, Franco Colapinto and Paul Aron. Soon after, rumours started that Colapinto, an Argentinian driver, might replace Doohan at some point during the 2025 season.

And that moment came now as Doohan didn’t manage to impress the team. He made several mistakes and had a number of crashes, which led to the team replacing him with Colapinto.

Colapinto already has some Formula 1 experience as he filled in for Logan Sargeant at Williams last season and impressed many its his immmediate speed. Now he gets another chance to show his skills, this time with Alpine, starting at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola.

However, Alpine stated that Colapinto’s chance is limited to five races (Imola, Monaco, Spain, Canada and Austria), so it is still possible that Doohan could return later in the season. For now, Colapinto is racing next to Pierre Gasly while Doohan has taken over as Alpine’s reserve driver. The team will decide who will keep the race seat after these five races, before the British Grand Prix.

The offcial statement from Alpine says:

“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.

“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.”