Alpine brutally axe Jack Doohan and name F1 replacement for Imola race

Jack Doohan has lost his place on the grid - with Franco Colapinto taking his place for the next five races. His team has confirmed that, after just six rounds of the 2025 season, the Australian driver's failure to score a point has resulted in his race seat being taken away from him.

The announcement comes as no surprise given the near-constant speculation that has surrounded Doohan during his brief time racing in F1. From not long after he finally landed his place on the grid, there were incessant rumours suggesting Alpine were not exactly committed to their new racer.

Alpine have now finally confirmed the switch, with Colapinto pencilled in for the next five races beginning at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix next week. Doohan will be first-choice deserve driver.

Colapinto said: “Firstly, I want to thank the team for giving me the opportunity to drive competitively for the next five races. I will work hard with the team to prepare for the next race in Imola and the upcoming triple-header, which will no doubt be intense and a big challenge for everyone.

"I have stayed sharp, and I am as ready as possible with the team’s race support testing programme, as well as on the simulator at Enstone. I will do my best to get up to speed quickly and give it my all to deliver the best possible results alongside Pierre.”

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Doohan added: “I am very proud to have achieved my lifelong ambition to be a professional Formula One driver and I will forever be grateful to the team for helping me achieve this dream. Obviously, this latest chapter is a tough one for me to take because, as a professional driver, naturally I want to be racing. That said, I appreciate the team’s trust and commitment.

"We have long-term goals as a team to achieve and I will continue to give my maximum efforts in any way I can to help achieve those. For now, I will keep my head down, keep working hard, watch with interest the next five races and keep chasing my own personal goals.”

Speculation only grew when Colapinto was signed as a reserve driver. The Argentine raced nine times for in 2024 but the team did not have a space for him to stay on this year, as they had already signed .

So he remained as a back-up until Alpine announced they had signed him, also as a reserve. The fact Colapinto was willing to switch from one off-grid role to another was an indicator that he expected to be elevated to a race seat sooner rather than later.

Speculation briefly abated a few weeks ago with Alpine indicating they were happy with the promise Doohan had showed in the early weeks of the season. But his failure to build on that solid start has led to the decision to make a change.

So Colapinto will make his race debut for Alpine at next Sunday's . It is understood that Doohan was informed of his fate before he left the Miami International Autodrome following Sunday's race, in which he crashed out on the opening lap following a tangle with .

The Australian will remain as part of the Alpine set-up. He will be a reserve for the rest of the season and perform simulator work - similar to the role being performed by Colapinto while waiting for his chance to race. Paul Aron is also a reserve and development driver for the team.

Alpine are ninth in the constructors' championship, just one point ahead of basement-dwellers . The six scored by as he finished seventh in Bahrain were the only ones they had managed all year until the Frenchman added one more by inheriting eighth place in the Miami sprint race, following time penalties for three drivers who finished ahead.