A major backer of Franco Colapinto has potentially let slip when the Argentine could make his Alpine Formula 1 debut in place of Jack Doohan.
Doohan has faced constant speculation over his future with Alpine from the moment he made his debut at the 2024 season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Speculation ramped up when Alpine signed Colapinto as a reserve from Williams on the eve of the 2025 campaign, with Executive Advisor Flavio Briatore publicly keen on the Argentine.
Doohan, the incumbent at Alpine, has constantly been tied to a ‘when will he be dropped’ narrative and one particular party might have let slip that this is sooner rather than later.
YPF CEO Horacio Marin was repeatedly questioned on the A24 news channel when Colapinto, who the Argentine company backs, would be making his debut.
Marin dodged the questions but could be heard just as the interview cut to a commercial break, uttering “Imola.”
Imola is the round after the upcoming Miami GP and that would represent a swift and brutal course of action by Alpine, which has publicly backed Doohan thus far.
“We know there’s a bit of unrest around Jack’s position, but he’s working well,” Oakes told Sky Deutschland in Japan.
“So far it’s been ok. He’s staying calm and focusing on himself.
“There are a lot of rumours about Franco, but at the moment we’re happy.”
Doohan ‘hasn’t been blown away’ by Gasly
Doohan has yet to score a point so far in F1 amid Alpine’s sporadic form.
In fact, Pierre Gasly has only one points-scoring finish to his name so far this term and three-time GP winner Johnny Herbert told Motorsport Week that he feels Doohan is performing admirably so far.
“It’s all down to Jack. What the track and what the performance is, and hopefully there aren’t going to be as many mistakes coming into play,” he said.
“It’s purely down to his performances. Actually, his performances haven’t been bad, to be perfectly honest. He hasn’t been blown away by Pierre at all. Qualifying pace is very similar.
“So it’s probably a little bit of a headache for Flavio, because I think he wanted it probably to be getting blown away, getting completely destroyed mentally, and then he can quickly do that change.”
Despite not being “blown away” by Gasly in qualifying, Doohan has shown inconsistencies across a race distance that have seen a gap between the pair emerge in a clearer fashion.
Herbert argues this is where Doohan could find himself under threat.
“Qualifying, that’s one thing,” Herbert said. “But… the race is something that he’s got to harness all the energies, the negative energies that may be there, the positive energies that are there, and do the job in a race situation, and that will be his saviour.
“If it doesn’t happen, then it will be Colapinto, for sure.
“Because I think Flavio is very aware that other people probably are interested.”
READ MORE – Alpine boss Oliver Oakes stands by Jack Doohan amid Franco Colapinto rumours
