Alpine is squeezing whether to replace Jacques Duhan with Franco Colapinto before his next race at the Emilia Romana Grand Prix.
Doohan’s seating has been constantly under scrutiny since he was promoted early in the first race at the end of the season Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last year. The Australian rookie had been announced as an Alpine race driver in August, but bringing the emergence of Corapinto in the driver market – Williams’ strong performance resume with interest from Argentina, he became a candidate for the future race seat.
Alpine moved to sign Colapinto on loan from Williams in the winter.
According to Racer sources, the team is currently determining whether that time will be ahead of the start of the European season at Imola in two weeks.
Changes occur after Douhan’s seven races (sixth this season) when Korapinto takes over Douhan’s seat.
Doohan expressed his frustration with the team after being eliminated in SQ1 in Miami on Friday, and despite his first pause of teammate Pierre Guthrie on Saturday, his race ended after a first corner collision with Liam Lawson.
“Unfortunately, what was wrong this weekend was out of my control,” Duhan said Sunday. “But you always have to reflect and look at situations like that, if there’s something I can do better, so I’ll look back on it for a short period of time before switching my focus to the upcoming race at Imola.”
Despite these comments, team principal Oliver Oaks said on Friday, “Jack is our driver along with Pierre.”
Alpine is currently ninth in the Constructors Championship with 7 points, all scored by Pierre Guthrie. Doohan is one of four drivers who have not yet scored this season, along with Fernando Alonso, Lawson and Gabriel Bortoleto. Last year, Corapinto scored five points in Williams’ nine starts.