172 replies to this topic

[JL14]

Alpine evaluating dropping Doohan before next F1 race - The Race

 

As of the end of the Miami Grand Prix weekend, The Race understands that a change could be made early in the season after all, potentially in time for the triple-header that begins at Imola in two weeks’ time. 

Alpine said it would not comment on rumours, and team principal Oliver Oakes did not conduct a media session on Sunday evening in Miami.

Earlier in the weekend in an FIA press conference he had slightly equivocated on Doohan's position by saying "as it is today, Jack is our driver along with Pierre", and adding: "We always evaluate, but today, that is the case."

[BRG]

Well, Oakes denied the Argie story about Colapinto taking over at Imola, so I guess that proves it is true. Doohan is Done.

[lukestanton91]

Well, Oakes denied the Argie story about Colapinto taking over at Imola, so I guess that proves it is true. Doohan is Done.

 

Does Oakes actually have any say in these decisions? I get the feeling he's just there to be ''room meat'' (one for the 'In The Loop' fans there), whilst Briatore and them do the 'proper' stuff.

[flingsofdeon]

I think there’s more to this whole jack thing.

Flavio wasn’t convinced initially of Gasly, as he alluded to on camera in DTS. Ocon looks like he irritated him, so he had to go.

Flavio wanted Carlos - couldn’t land him - so with an inconsistent start to the season I wonder if this is a case of looking at both drivers.

First, Jack has to go - put pressure on Pierre, in theory, with some nice sponsorship money - and then see how Pierre copes against another driver.

[NikL]

https://www.the-race...anco-colapinto/

 

 

 

Jack Doohan is expected to be replaced for the next Formula 1 race at Imola after Alpine informed the rookie of its intention to make an immediate change.

[Otaku]

Maybe they could get rid of Oakes as a bonus feature. 2 birds with 1 stone.

[Pingguest]

This is cruel. From the very beginning, there was talk about Doohan being replaced very soon. Therefore, I do feel Doohan really got his chance. 

[Jellyfishcake]

So the 7 races thing turns out to be true after all?

 

He's had a tough start, but Alpine haven't exactly been flying regardless 

[jonklug]

It appears it's been confirmed

https://www.the-race...anco-colapinto/

Edited by jonklug, 05 May 2025 - 14:19.

[juicy sushi]

Flavio is never not Flavio.  Just need to get the paint job back to the old Benetton colours.

[flingsofdeon]

Predictable and the smart business move. Feel sorry for Jack, but now he can focus on finding a position / seat that has a little more job security (outside of F1, clearly).

Edited by flingsofdeon, 05 May 2025 - 14:24.

[juicy sushi]

Predictable and the smart business move. Feel sorry for Jack, but now he can focus on finding a position / seat that has a little more job security (outside of F1, clearly).

Alpine could do well to get him a test in the A424.  If he shows anything similar to Mick, he'd be a great addition to their squad, even if only as a reserve driver this year.

[Anja]

I'm not expecting Colapinto to do any better. 

[Muppetmad]

We could see this coming since last December, but it doesn't make it any less cruel.

[LolaB0860]

I'm not expecting Colapinto to do any better. 

 

It's a terrible car destined for P15 qualifying position in most races, but then in some random races it's somehow capable of P5 qualifying positions. Although even in those events it's gonna fall back in the actual races. So I think he might score a point or two during the summer races, but that's it.

[Frood]

At least poor old Jack won't have hundreds of Argentinians insulting him in every social media post he makes or is mentioned in now.

 

I don't see Colapinto doing much better, to be honest.

[Sabre1977]

I'm not expecting Colapinto to do any better. 

 

Me neither.

[MikeTekRacing]

I can't understand the logic in this. The driver is the least of their problems

He was ok for a rookie, made normal rookie mistakes but was not lost for pace. 

[flingsofdeon]

I think Franco has star qualities, Jack, though a nice guy from the look of it, doesn’t have that. Jack isn’t slow but with Alpine probably scrapping for 6th/7th at best in the constructors, there is probably more focus now in-season than there was before it, on how to make this team attractive to sponsors and partners…

[Stephane]

I can't understand the logic in this. The driver is the least of their problems
He was ok for a rookie, made normal rookie mistakes but was not lost for pace.

The decision was probably made before the season. Performance has no matter here, just money and contracts

[DS27]

Well, Oakes denied the Argie story about Colapinto taking over at Imola, so I guess that proves it is true. Doohan is Done.

 

 

I wouldn't even say he denied it. He didn't for example just say "I can confirm Doohan will be in the car at Imola"

 

He said something along the lines of the old get-out "as it stands at the moment, he will be in the car"

 

In these scenarios, a moment isn't usually very long

Edited by DS27, 05 May 2025 - 15:12.

[MacJack]

Sorry to say, but as long as Flavio is connected to Alpine, I'm not wishing any better results any of their drivers. Hopefully JD will get another chance in some other team, I think he deserves it.

Edited by MacJack, 05 May 2025 - 15:12.

[Baddoer]

Feel sorry for Doohan. Put under enormous pressure with Colapinto lurking in the shadows... First Australia, now this... I wish he got more chances to prove himself.

[Laster]

Can't stand Briatore and I'm still revolted Renault brought him back to F1. I haven't seen anything from Colapinto to suggest he would be a better bet than Doohan, or less crash prone.

[JHSingo]

I wasn't massively struck on Doohan when he was initially announced, but it's hard not to feel sorry for the guy. He's been treated extremely poorly. Yes, I know F1's a performance game and you have to do enough to keep your seat - but it feels like he's gone into this season without getting a fair chance. The game was up the moment they signed Colapinto. 

I think some teams forget these are just young guys chasing a dream. They forget they're humans. I'm not suggesting they need to be wrapped up in cotton wool, but geez, did they really have to be this ruthless? If they've never been that convinced by Doohan, why the bloody hell did they sign him in the first place and put him through what must have been a mentally draining few months?

Franco seems a nice enough lad, and perhaps it's unfair to wish misfortune on him. But it would be quite funny if he flopped - and it'd certainly be embarrassing for Alpine too. 

[jonklug]

Doohan has been sloppy but he has shown some flashes of pace here and there. Really cruel and unfair to do this to a rookie of course...

[Clrnc]

I don't think this is fair or deserved. If we deep dive into Doohan's races, he has been unlucky with incidents and his pace has been improving steadily. I highly doubt Colapinto will be any improvement. I rather they take a punt on Hirakawa who showed really good pace in practice for them. 

 

This is not a case of replacing someone out of his depth and terrible like Lawson. Doohan deserves more time

[Disgrace]

Bahrain was probably the decider, he had a real shot at qualifying in Q3 and finishing in the points and didn't deliver when it counted.

[messy]

Colapinto is just another De Vries in my book, in all probability. Someone who can adapt quickly and handle an F1 car confidently from the off, but is immediately hitting their ceiling - or in Colapinto’s case regularly going over the line and chucking it at the wall. The bigger the sample size the more that initial buzz looked like it probably wasn’t warranted. Maybe that’s harsh and he’s young, but what is there to suggest he’s better than Doohan, really?

Oh yeah. The fact that he’s actually wanted by the team and isn’t competing in his rookie F1 season with a sword hanging an inch over his head ready to drop at any moment. So I’m sure he’ll ultimately do better than Doohan simply because he’s not driving for a team who are desperate to get shot of him at the first excuse.

[aportinga]

I'm not expecting Colapinto to do any better. 

 

Yeah if he starts stuffing chassis it's not going to look very good.

[Spillage]

The BBC are now reporting this too. It feels pretty brutal. I don't think Doohan has been that bad, although he hasn't impressed as much as Colapinto did last season. I feel for him.

[GiorgioF1]

Doohan wasn't great but he had a shitty deal with Alpine and Briatore so it wasn't helping his confidence.

 

Colapinto will be quicker but they better secure a good chunk of that brazilian money for the repair bills.

[FirstnameLastname]

Colapinto can now be the Latifi/Sargent of the grid.

The safety car giver.

[jonpollak]

I thought Mick Schumacher was set to be his replacement?

 

Jp

[Francesc]

Briatore is a completely despicable person.

[MikeTekRacing]

Briatore is a completely despicable person.

in other news, we are in 2025 AD

[andysaint]

Doohan should never have started the season. The decision is the correct one but I’d have more respect for it had they just admitted they’d screwed up in the first place and given Colapinto the seat from the first go when they wanted to

[zeph]

Not a good time to be a rookie in F1…

[noikeee]

Always a bad time to be a rookie for Flavio Briatore…

Fixed

[sportyskells]

and a certain title people saying not again

[zeph]

Fixed

I don’t think Briatore had anything to do with Lawson’s demotion…

[Secretariat]

Seems to me Doohan was unfortunately always "dead man walking". If this does in fact happen, seems pre-season and 6 race weekends (about 4 months) is the amount of time needed to integrate and hit the ground running for Alpine's team operations. As for the actual driving, I guess we will see. 

[RPM40]

I can't understand the logic in this. The driver is the least of their problems

He was ok for a rookie, made normal rookie mistakes but was not lost for pace. 

 

I thought overall he did fine, he wasn't amazing, but he was often very close to Gasly on pace. Made a few rookie errors, but most of the rookies scrapping for p15 tend to make errors so again it was nothing unusual. 

 

If they dropped him over his results so far then they just wanted to drop him, as I would say overall he's been generally better than how I thought it might go given the learning curve.

[Beggysmalls]

The mechanics at alpine are going to have a busy few races coming up fixing all of that crash damage

[Ultravox]

Doohan has been awful all season. Costly mistakes and mediocre pace. What did you expect? I don't understand the outrage. Flavio has always had a keen eye for talent, and it's clear to anyone with a good eye that Doohan aint it. So why waste anymore time with him?

[baddog]

While he has been less than stellar, clearly they set him up to fail and want him out so he is on a hiding to nothing.

[Ultravox]

How did they clearly set him up to fail?

[MikeTekRacing]

How did they clearly set him up to fail?

it appears the deadline was already set in stone before the season started.

So nothing to do with his driving.

 

He wasn't the next Kimi but he  but. he just outqualified Gasly. 

Rookies need time to learn. The team is pretty awful too. It's not like they were fighting for regular points and he was a disaster

Edited by MikeTekRacing, 05 May 2025 - 23:03.

[Muzzyf1]

Very brutal at least give him half a season

[baddog]

it appears the deadline was already set in stone before the season started.

So nothing to do with his driving.

 

He wasn't the next Kimi but he  but. he just outqualified Gasly. 

Rookies need time to learn. The team is pretty awful too. It's not like they were fighting for regular points and he was a disaster

 

Pretty much this. How can he approach learning and trust the team are doing their best for him when he already knows the boss is working on getting him out?