Alpine F1 chaos capped off by heavily discussed driver change

Before the new F1 season even got underway, there was plenty of talk about Alpine's driver line-up situation.

Jack Doohan was supposed to start his first full year alongside Pierre Gasly, but was immediately under considerable pressure as Alpine opted to recruit Franco Colapinto as a reserve driver following his impressive stint with Williams.

The driver swap scenario has now come to pass, though it's likely Alpine did not foresee the situation going so chaotically.

On Tuesday night, Doohan's departure from the team was preceded by an unexpected announcement that team principal Oliver Oakes had stepped down.

The timing is notable, given that after the Miami Grand Prix, there was immediate noise that Doohan would be replaced - however, both Briatore and Oakes have moved to suggest the exits are not linked.

Executive advisor Flavio Briatore, who has taken over the duties of Oakes, explained the team's thinking behind making the driver switch.

“The field being so closely matched this year, and with a competitive car, which the team has drastically improved in the past 12 months, we are in a position where we see the need to rotate our line-up,” he said. 

“We also know the 2026 season will be an important one for the team and having a complete and fair assessment of the drivers this season is the right thing to do in order to maximise our ambitions next year.”

Money

From a purely sporting standpoint, there is something to be said for Alpine's decision. Doohan has not scored a single point so far and has also been regularly involved in incidents. 

For example, a DRS error caused him to crash during the second free practice in Japan and he crashed out at Miami last weekend after coming together with Liam Lawson. 

In the end, the crash with Lawson proved to be his last act (for now) as he eventually retired the car with damage from the coming together.

Despite the shaky stint, Doohan has shown positives - in qualifying at Miami, he was faster than Gasly and without Lewis Hamilton's spin, Doohan would have kept Gasly out of Q3 in Australia.

There is much more behind Alpine's decision, however. Colapinto brings with him a hefty bag of money from Argentine sponsors, which is of mammoth interest to Alpine. 

When Colapinto joined Williams at Monza last year in place of Logan Sargeant, that also drove sponsors to commit to the team. 

In Japan, an unusual course of action took place around Doohan, which sheds new light on the situation. Alpine decided to pass Doohan's race engineer to Gasly, giving the Australian a new right-hand man who had never held the relevant role before. 

The fact that Ryo Hirakawa took over Doohan's seat in the first practice session AND Doohan later crashed did not help in the acquaintance between the two. In any case, it is obviously difficult for a rookie to work with an inexperienced race engineer.

RacingNews365 understands that Alpine was considering alternating Doohan and Colapinto early on. This would then involve a six-race set-up, with Doohan handling the first six grands prix. 

There was much more at play in the background than simply judging Doohan's performances. A political game was unfolding.

Chaos

All in all, there is currently chaos at Alpine. The team boss has left, there has already been a driver change, and there is no clarity for the future. 

Colapinto will only get five races to prove himself, after which Alpine will re-evaluate the situation. So should Colapinto fail to perform, Doohan may just get a second chance. 

Alpine also has the services of Paul Aron, but he no longer seems to be an option for the seat. Confidence in a specific driver is completely lacking.

From the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, we are going to get an answer to the question of how Alpine stands with the new driver duo. 

Colapinto will want to commence his new opportunity in strong fashion and take some of the pressure off the situation. The first step toward his debut for Alpine was taken on Wednesday at the Zandvoort circuit, where he completed a TPC test. 

For Alpine, it will hold great hope that he benefits from that outing, obtain a strong start and put a curtain over the Alpine uncertainties.