Jack Doohan thanked his Alpine team for the opportunity he offered, admitting his team’s relegation to reserve driver.
After consistent speculation that Franco Colapinto will have the opportunity to compete against Alpine ever since he was signed to reserve in January, the team announced Wednesday that the former Williams driver will replace Doohan in the next five races, starting with the Emilia Romana Grand Prix. The move comes after Doohan first surpassed his teammate Pierre Guthrie in Miami, starting a total of seven races for the Alpine.
“I am extremely proud to have achieved my lifelong ambition to be a professional Formula 1 driver and I am forever grateful to the team who helped me achieve this dream,” Duhan said. “Obviously, this latest chapter is because, as a professional driver, I naturally want to race.
“With that being said, I am grateful for the trust and commitment of the team, and we will continue to strive to achieve our long-term goals as a team and do our best to achieve them.
Alpine says it will conduct a new driver evaluation ahead of the UK’s Grand Prix in July. The race at Silverstone is the second of consecutive weekends with Austria.
Doohan scored the 13th best finish in China, with the Australian driver retiring from the opening round of the season in his home race in Melbourne, and was sent back again in Miami last time after his first contact with Liam Lawson.