Alpine Formula 1 boss Oliver Oakes has declared that it is “natural there’s speculation” continuing to circle about Franco Colapinto replacing Jack Doohan in the team.
Doohan has had to deal with rumours surrounding his spot ever since Alpine announced prior to the campaign that it had acquired Colapinto’s services from Williams.
Amid reports that a switch could transpire following the Miami Grand Prix, the Australian asserted last month that he and Alpine “know what my contract situation is”.
But the suggestion has gathered renewed momentum this week as the CEO of an Argentine sponsor connected to Colapinto claimed he will race with Alpine at Imola.
However, Oakes dispelled that assertion, as he recognised the intense desire in Colapinto’s homeland to see him land a permanent drive has made rumours inevitable.
“Yeah, I mean, look, I saw it like everyone else,” Oakes told media including Motorsport Week.
“I think it was a sponsor from Argentina off-camera giving his view on Franco when he’s going to be in the car.
“I mean obviously I’m sure there’s a lot of people in Argentina who’d like him in the car this Sunday.
“I think we’ve been pretty open as a team that that’s just noise out there, and Jack needs to continue doing a good job.
“But I think obviously it’s natural that there’s always that speculation there.”
Asked whether he could confirm Doohan will retain his seat beyond this weekend’s race, Oakes replied: “Yeah, as it is today Jack is our driver along with Pierre [Gasly].
“I think we’ve been pretty clear on that. I mean, we always evaluate it, but today that is the case.”
Doohan ‘immune’ to speculation
Doohan, who is still awaiting his maiden points finish in F1, expressed that he has become “immune” to the persistent speculation since he succeeded Esteban Ocon.
“To be honest, the worst of it was in January, pre-season, when there was the most noise, nothing else going on,” he admitted.
“There was the talk of the town. But I think there was a new narrative each weekend, and very quickly I knew what was irrelevant and what wasn’t true and just focused on my job.
“And to be honest, on top of everything, and even in the difficult times, I didn’t really ever feel affected by it.
“I had a good group of people around me. The team were also very supportive.
“I never had that or felt that on the back of my mind. For sure, there’s always going to be noise.
“But I was more just focused on being as focused as I can in the car rather than thinking about anything external, which, potentially since this topic’s been around for so long, by the time the season got started, maybe I was already so immune to it, whereas if it had started just a couple of days before Melbourne, it might have hindered me more.”
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