'A farce' - RacingNews365's view on Alpine’s latest exit and driver chaos

Jack Doohan has been ousted from his seat at the Alpine team after just six rounds into the new season.

The Australian has been replaced by Franco Colapinto. The 21-year-old joined Alpine earlier this year on a multi-year deal following an impressive substitute stint at Williams last season.

Colapinto will get a fresh opportunity to impress and aim to establish himself as a permanent full-time driver.

Is it a good move for Alpine, or have the team made the wrong choice to sub out a driver so early?

RacingNews365's writers have given their view on the situation below.

Jake Nichol - Driver rotation not the biggest story at Alpine

Say what you want about Alpine's decision to bring Flavio Briatore back into the fold in 2024, with Oliver Oakes as team boss while ditching works Renault engines for a Mercedes customer supply, but it gave this team one thing it had sorely been lacking: a plan. 

Like it or not, the team finally had some direction after a turbulent period, and began making strong steps forward on track in late 2024 after signing the highly-rated David Sanchez from McLaren.

But what an absolute farce. In his defence, Doohan was only ever a stop-gap option after Carlos Sainz joined Williams and whilst he deserved longer, he did not impress, with that Japan practice accident after the DRS trick almost unforgivable, but driver swaps happen, that's not the big story here, Red Bull do it all the time. Oakes' resignation is. 

The new man when they are appointed, will begin the process all over again and set the team back another year or so.

The turnover of senior personnel is also frightening. Since 2020 Abiteboul, Budkowski, Rossi, Szafnauer, Permane, Famin, Oakes, Harman, de Beer, Fry, Brivio, Bell, Prost, Alonso, Piastri, Ocon and Ricciardo have all left. That's 17 people. 

In comparison, when Lifeboat #1 was launched from RMS Titanic, it had 12 people on-board.

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Fergal Walsh - Why not seek out the best line-up?

Alpine has been no stranger to making major decisions ahead of the 2026 overhaul the sport will go through, having opted to rule itself as a power unit supplier and strike a deal with Mercedes.

With recent rumblings suggesting the Mercedes power unit is the strongest in the field, it could put its customers in a nice spot come the start of next year's campaign.

Alpine has been in a period of mediocrity for some time and the sport's new era signals a great opportunity for Team Enstone to finally return to a competitive position.

Entering the year with the right tools will be vital, and this driver rotation could provide Alpine with the answers it desires. The team has communicated that Colapinto will be given at least five races in the car. Should he fail to perform, what then? Does Paul Aron get his turn?

The uncomfortable questions that followed Doohan and his future during his first races with the team will no doubt now shift to Colapinto. Alpine will only have itself to blame for that with its five-race pledge. 

It's a rocky period at Alpine as a decision to make a driver line-up change so early in the campaign is uncomfortable for most involved.

If it is using the call to get itself ready for 2026 and enter a driver line-up it has total confidence in, perhaps it will be worth initial backlash.

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Nick Golding - An inevitable departure

Jack Doohan's Alpine demotion, even if it's temporary, felt inevitable. Never has a driver been linked so much to an exit, before a season-opener has taken place. It was a matter of time before Franco Colapinto was promoted, especially now with Flavio Briatore in charge. 

Briatore's interest in Colapinto was at a high level, now the Argentinian has to deliver. For Doohan, it's something he ultimately failed to do. 

Zero points from the opening six races in what is an improved Alpine package this season does not paint a pretty picture. Mistakes, crashes and penalty points have been aplenty, in what might be the end of his F1 career. 

To a certain extent, even if Doohan had scored a point or two, it feels like he was set to be replaced regardless. Briatore wants to see what Colapinto can do, which will be judged in the next five races. 

Could Doohan return for Silverstone? Based on Alpine's press release, that is quite possible, but would Briatore drop a driver he worked tirelessly to sign and with a staggering financial backing? Feels unlikely.

All Doohan can do is knuckle down, work hard and convince Alpine it made a mistake. Based on the exit of Oliver Oakes just 12 hours prior, it appears Doohan at least had one senior Alpine figure in his corner.