Franco Colapinto is back on the Formula 1 grid, but only for the next five races with Flavio Briatore and Alpine keeping their driver options open after dropping Jack Doohan
Flavio Briatore has explained the brutal decision to drop Jack Doohan just seven races into his Formula 1 career. Only six of those have taken place this season but, after zero points scored across those rounds, Alpine have decided to “rotate” their driver line-up.
So Franco Colapinto will race alongside Pierre Gasly at the next event, the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola, next Sunday. But even the Argentine has no guarantees about his future with the team confirming that his place is not set for the rest of the season.
Colapinto has been given the next five races to prove himself. If he cannot, with Doohan still on the books as their first reserve driver, another swap could take place with Alpine set to reassess the situation ahead of the British Grand Prix in July.
And it is not the only major change at the Enstone team in a dramatic 12 hours. Their previous team principal, Oliver Oakes, also handed in his resignation after less than a year in the job with Renault adviser Briatore taking over his duties for now.
Explaining the driver swap decision, Briatore said: “Having reviewed the opening races of the season, we have come to the decision to put Franco in the car alongside Pierre for the next five races.
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“With 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.
“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.
“We continue to support Jack at the team, as he has acted in a very professional manner in his role as a race driver so far this season. The next five races will give us an opportunity to try something different and after this time period we will assess our options.”
Colapinto has been expected to get the chance to race ever since he signed for the team over the winter break. The Argentine raced nine times for Williams last season but there was no room in their line-up for him to continue this year, with Carlos Sainz having already been signed to partner Alex Albon.
His switch to Alpine in another reserve role piled further pressure on Doohan to perform after the Australian was understood to have only been handed a six-race contract to impress. But despite showing promising pace early on, he has failed to built on that platform and Briatore has decided now is the right time for change.
Doohan said: “I am very proud to have achieved my lifelong ambition to be a professional F1 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.”
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