In the morning, Alpine confirmed what had been speculated for some time in the paddock. After six races, Jack Doohan’s F1 adventure seems to have reached its end. “Seems” because Alpine has not officially confirmed the new driver, Franco Colapinto, until the end of the season. The former Williams driver will have five races starting from Imola to prove his talent to Flavio Briatore and the entire Enstone team.
Flavio Briatore’s desire to have the Argentine race has finally been fulfilled. After all, Doohan’s F1 experience seemed already destined to be short-lived from the start. The season hadn’t even started yet, and there was already talk of a brief period given to the Australian to prove himself to the Italian businessman, who is known to be a cynical figure and one who loves only results.
Those results did not come – only a mere P13 was Jack Doohan’s best result – and the French team opted for a significant investment made before the start of the new season, hoping that the 2003-born driver could immediately replicate the performances he showed during his brief experience with Williams.
Alpine – Colapinto vs Doohan: the comparison of the first F1 races
Among the reasons that led Alpine’s board to pair the Argentine driver with Pierre Gasly, is certainly the comparison between their performances in the first six races in F1. Last year, Franco Colapinto also raced in an Italian Grand Prix. It was Monza, where, thanks to a track with few corners and thus favorable to Williams, he managed to achieve a good result.
Jack Doohan, on the other hand, could never have imagined that his second race with Alpine, in his homeland – Abu Dhabi 2024, his first appearance in F1 – would end that way. The weather conditions certainly did not help him, but the Australian driver stopped after just a few meters due to a track exit that caused him to crash into the wall.
Franco Colapinto then shone in Baku, once again benefiting from the type of layout with long straights and 90-degree corners. The Argentine managed to secure a brilliant eighth position, attracting the attention of Helmut Marko, who was looking for a replacement for Checo Perez. Jack Doohan, for his part, had made some mistakes in China that cost him points on his superlicense. Not to mention the disastrous crash in turn 1 at Suzuka, where, due to negligence in using the DRS at corner entry, he destroyed his Alpine.
The underwhelming performances continued until the last Grand Prix, once again knocked out in the first lap. In any case, Jack Doohan was never on the same level as Pierre Gasly. The Argentine driver, on the other hand, had more or less matched the performances of Albon, who had been with the team and in F1 for much longer, without disappointing. However, there are still various uncertainties. In the final races of last season, Franco Colapinto was involved in incidents that had put Williams in financial difficulty.
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