Alpine denies Colapinto 'pressure' on Doohan

Jan.24 (GMM) Alpine has denied it is putting extra “pressure” on rookie Jack Doohan ahead of his Formula 1 debut.

Rumours are swirling that the 22-year-old Australian is guaranteed only the first quarter of the 2025 season, with newly-signed reserve Franco Colapinto poised to step in.

Team advisor Flavio Briatore is not even denying it.

“If a driver doesn’t deliver results, doesn’t progress, he will be replaced,” he told Le Parisien recently. “You can’t be emotional in Formula 1.”

An engineer and manager who knows Briatore well, Joan Villadelprat, said he has seen this kind of situation unfold before.

“He (Briatore) knows what he wants,” he told the Duralavita podcast. “He looks at young talent and wants it at any price, like he did with (Michael) Schumacher.

“He went for Colapinto because he is looking for the new (Fernando) Alonso, the new Schumacher.”

Tellingly, both Colapinto, 21, and Doohan were together with Briatore at the Enstone factory this week at the same time. The flamboyant Italian even posted separate photos of himself with each driver on Instagram.

Alpine team boss Oliver Oakes, however, said some of the speculation about Colapinto and his chances of replacing Doohan in 2025 has been over the top.

“Some of the stuff that was written by the keyboard warriors about Jack was a bit harsh,” he said.

“It’s not about putting pressure on him, it’s more about giving the team options,” Oakes added. “A lot of people rely on a driver to perform every weekend and we need to make sure we have the best drivers in the cockpit, not just for now, but also for the future.”