BEIJING, May 7 (Xinhua) -- The Alpine Formula 1 team has confirmed that Franco Colapinto will replace Jack Doohan for at least the next five races.
"As part of an ongoing assessment of its driver line-up, the team has made the decision to rotate one of its race seats for the next five rounds of the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship," read a team statement.
"Alpine therefore announces that Franco Colapinto will be paired with Pierre Gasly from the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, ahead of a new evaluation before the British Grand Prix in July."
The statement added that Doohan remains with the team as "first-choice reserve driver".
Rookie Doohan had served as Alpine's test driver in 2024, and was promoted to a race seat for 2025 to replace the departed Esteban Ocon.
But rumors that his place was under threat emerged even before 2025 began, with senior figures at Alpine said to be pushing for Colapinto to be put in the seat instead.
Doohan's demotion comes after six Grands Prix in which he has failed to score points and has had a series of incidents, including two heavy crashes.
The Australian was caught out in wet conditions on lap 1 of his F1 debut in Melbourne, and then crashed heavily in practice for the Japanese Grand Prix after failing to close his DRS overtaking aid.
Colapinto made his F1 debut last year as a mid-season replacement for Logan Sargeant at Williams and immediately impressed, prompting other teams to look into signing him to a race seat for 2025.
Those links cooled somewhat after a couple of heavy crashes in Brazil and Las Vegas, but Alpine saw fit to sign Colapinto up as a reserve driver, fueling speculation that he would eventually replace Doohan.
The Argentinian is also said to come with substantial financial backing from a selection of Latin American sponsors.
Alpine's driver swap comes one day after Team Principal Oliver Oakes unexpectedly resigned from his position, with the team's Executive Advisor Flavio Briatore - who had allegedly been keen to place Colapinto in a race seat - assuming Oakes' responsibilities.
Oakes has not publicly commented on his departure, but the Briton was rumored to have been unhappy at Alpine's decision to replace Doohan with Colapinto so soon into 2025. ■
