5^th of May 2025

The day after the Miami Grand Prix, which wasn’t the best for Alpine due to Jack Doohan crashing on the first lap and Pierre Gasly finishing outside the points at P13, word had started to spread over swapping out Doohan for Colapinto with uncertainty still in the air.

After a couple of hours, it seemed Alpine had started to consider dropping Doohan to replace him with their reserve driver, Franco Colapinto.

However, Oliver Oakes throughout the past six races has advocated for Doohan, he provided support for the Australian driver and believed in him instead of seeing him as an issue. 

Oakes back in Bahrain stated:

“I actually feel for him because I get that everybody wants the clickbait and that’s a discussion topic. – I think because Franco did a good job last year, he’s got a big fan base, so it’s natural that people want to talk about that.”

 “At the end of the day, like every driver, you’ve got to deliver, but I think he’s doing a really good job at blocking out the noise and just getting on with it.”

Repeatedly, Oakes has been that supportive role for Doohan, he advocates for him and stands up for him whenever it is needed. Oakes has protected Doohan within Alpine, he has stood up for him to stop that pressure and Alpine’s wants of wanting to harshly drop Doohan for Colapinto, which has always been set in stone. This is clear by Doohan’s contract only being signed for six races and not the whole season. 

6^th of May 2025

The Formula One world was in shock at the unexpected announcement from Alpine of Oakes resigning from his role as Team Principal with immediate effect which has led to Flavio Briatore to continue as Executive Advisor while also taking over Oakes’ duties. 

Alpine released the following statement:

This was met with various responses, mainly surrounding Briatore’s background in Formula One due to the ‘Crashgate’ scandal which has seen him getting banned from the sport for an unspecified period of time. 

And the questions for why Oakes decided to resign came in, with most sharing their thoughts and opinions such as David Croft:

“Unexpected news and a real shame for the team. If Ollie was backing Jack Doohan only for other to want Franco Colapinto instead that could explain the resignation – I’m sure we’ll find out soon.” (Via X.com)

However, Oakes was the main supporter and advocate for Doohan, with Oakes gone what does that mean for the Australian?

7^th of May 2025

Alpine started off the morning as they confirmed Colapinto would replace Doohan on a five-race deal that will start from Imola, and the backlash was immediate.

“You have to really feel for Jack Doohan. Set up for failure before he’d even turned a lap of the steering wheel. An unbelievable amount of pressure on him before the lights went out in Australia. He’s had a tough rookie start but he didn’t deserve this.” – Matt Gallagher (Via X.com)

“Genuinely feel sorry for Doohan, he lacked seat time and confidence coming in and was never given any time to get either of that back. Now they go to anothr driver who is in a very similar situation. I don’t see what will change here, but for their sake I hope I’m wrong.” – Chris McCarthy. (Via X.com)

“As much as I like Franco Colapinto, this feels a bit harsh to Jack Doohan. And putting all of these aside, I know it’s business and sink or swim kind of sport, but I think F1 drivers need to have better contracts.” – @Nora_jooe  

Immediately the question was asked:  What does the future hold for Doohan?

It seems Doohan will stay at Alpine as their first-choice reserve driver, which could possibly hint at a return for the Australian if things don’t work out for Colapinto. However, does that mean Alpine is going to constantly change their drivers? If Colapinto doesn’t perform well, will he also be replaced?

The contract situation at Alpine makes less sense as more comes out, the harshness and pressure on the Alpine second drivers seem to be a constant factor that could pass over to Colapinto, no matter who you are, due to it being hard to outperform or perform as well as Pierre Gasly at Alpine. 

We wish Jack Doohan the best of luck on his journey, and we cannot wait to see how Franco Colapinto performs on Imola to see if he can prove himself once again.