'He'll be back' – Drivers show support for Doohan and tip him for F1 return after Alpine driver change

Several F1 drivers have shared words of support for Jack Doohan following a driver change at Alpine that has seen the Australian sidelined while Franco Colapinto will step into his seat for the next five races.

After long serving as a reserve driver for the Enstone-based squad, it was confirmed last summer that Doohan would step up to the race team as Pierre Gasly’s team mate in 2025. He then made an earlier-than-expected debut at the 2024 season finale in Abu Dhabi following the exit of Esteban Ocon.

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Entering into his first full-time campaign this year, Doohan faced early speculation over his position after Alpine signed Colapinto to their roster of reserve drivers, the Argentinian having impressed as a substitute at Williams across nine races last season.

And while both Doohan and the squad brushed off the rumours, it was announced following Round 6 in Miami that Colapinto will partner Gasly for the next five races, with the team deciding to “rotate” the seat, while Doohan will remain an “integral part” of Alpine and will act as the first-choice reserve driver.

In light of Doohan’s exit from the grid for the time being, a number of drivers voiced support for the 22-year-old during media day at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, including his countryman Oscar Piastri.

“It’s a tough situation all round, I think,” said Piastri. “It was a short time in F1 for Jack. Franco’s coming in with these five races, which is also not easy circumstances to come back into F1.

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“For Jack, he can be proud of what he’s achieved – he still became an F1 driver and no one can take that away from him.”

Another driver to express sympathy for Doohan was former Alpine driver Ocon, who backed the Australian to return to the grid in the future.

“[It’s] sad for Jack,” the now-Haas driver commented. “I’m sure he will be back in F1 at some point. He showed some strong moments this year, where he’s qualified super well and has been super quick in the car which was good to see.

“On the other hand, also Franco deserves to be in F1. Last year he showed some great things with the Williams car. Unfortunately there are not enough cars on the grid to fit all the talent that there is out there.”

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Echoing those sentiments was Liam Lawson, a driver who also has recent experience of a seat change after being demoted to Racing Bulls from Red Bull following the opening two races of the season.

“I spoke to Jack, obviously for him it’s very tough,” Lawson added. “I think he showed enough to stay in Formula 1.

“Unfortunately it’s very cut-throat, but as Esteban said I think he did enough for sure, even before F1 he did enough to be in F1 in the first place, and he’s done enough in F1 to deserve to come back.”

Doohan also received words of support from Yuki Tsunoda, the man who swapped places with Lawson by moving up to Red Bull.

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“I think in previous races he’s gave it all,” the Japanese driver said. “I’m sure there are a lot of races that didn’t go the way he wanted, but he did well in Miami Qualifying and seems a nice guy. I think in terms of pace he was there, it’s just other stuff that is probably coming from experience.

“I respect the amount of work that he [gave] and I’m sure he’ll come back strong, either [in] Formula 1 or other categories.”