Major Jack Doohan mistake explained by former Alpine boss

Former Alpine executive director Marcin Budkowski believes Alpine made a major mistake in promoting Jack Doohan to a 2025 race seat so early. 

Doohan was named as Esteban Ocon's replacement for 2025 during the '24 summer break, with the driver market still fluid with the likes of Valtteri Bottas and Kevin Magnussen not having a contract for this season. 

Ultimately, Doohan stepped up to replace Ocon from the season-finale in Abu Dhabi, and was handed the first six races of the 2025 season, but was stood down in favour of Franco Colapinto for a five-race evaluation from Imola to Austria inclusive.

Colapinto is partnering Pierre Gasly in Alpine's fourth driver pairing since 2022, with Fernando Alonso also leaving the team. 

Alonso's departure for Aston Martin in mid-2022 and the public rejection of promotion from protégé Oscar Piastri is one factor why Budkowski, who left the team in early 2022, believes it rushed to confirm Doohan. 

"There is a lot to be said. Did Jack get a proper chance? Probably not," Budkowski explained on the RacingNews365 podcast, released on Monday, 19th May. 

"In all fairness to Jack, and I don't want to be saying bad things about anyone as I have huge respect for these guys, but I think the error of Alpine was not making the driver change now. 

"It was confirming Jack way too soon last year. They were still bruised by Fernando leaving, the missed announcement of Oscar, and they wanted to show confidence. 

"They have a driver academy, and Jack was at the top of the pile. They wanted to promote from within, but there was no need to announce Jack, but they did. 

"There was plenty of time to list out the options, and I don't think Jack was going anywhere. He was under contract, and I don't think any other team was actively looking at hiring him. 

"They could have given themselves a lot more time. They courted Carlos during the winter; they signed Colapinto, and it was a very, very bad mental environment for Jack."

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The Ollie Bearman comparison

Whilst Doohan was only given six races at the start of the 2025 season, Budkowski felt he had not shown enough to keep his seat, especially given what Colapinto had done during his stint at Williams in late 2024. 

He also highlighted Oliver Bearman, who jumped into Sainz's Ferrari in Saudi Arabia last season at short notice, finishing seventh ahead of Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton. 

"He had his chance, which was probably not fair, but equally, he had six races, and Colapinto had [nine] races last year and impressed, Bearman impressed in one race, and Jack failed to do that," he added.

"Had he impressed in the first six races, bar any commercial agreements with Colapinto and his sponsors, then he would probably still be in the car."