The first race of a Formula 1 driver’s career should be a big highlight. Excitement, anticipation, and the time to begin a journey that you expect to last for more than seven rounds. But Jack Doohan’s future was already questioned, even if he had lined up on the Abu Dhabi grid at the end of last year.
Franco Colapinto has been a very attractive proposition for the team in Limbo’s condition. Alpine was a year ago after its power unit program ended and became a client team, and executive advisor Flavio Briatore has not been able to move away from making tough decisions. Thus, despite showing impressive pace and capabilities for Williams, the potential availability of drivers with great financial support from Argentina and South America has always been interesting.
The proposal that Dohan won one race as an audition at the end of 2024 and could lose his seat in the winter proved to be inaccurate, but pressure on Australia only increased during the offseason when Corapinto was effectively signed as a reserve player to a loan from Williams. By that point, the text was already on the wall.
Despite Alpine claiming that it has not been decided in advance that Corapinto compete with the team, Williams Team Principal James Bowles handed the game.
“I hope he’s racing for Alpine,” Bowles said at Williams’ preseason launch. “The reason we did this is because we wanted him to race at ’25 and/or ’26. That’s the most likely chance he’ll be with Alpine, and that’s why he’s there.
“I hope Jack has made it, but in the end, Franco is my driver I want him to return to that car. I’ll return to Williams after a while.
Given the possibilities he showed at the end of 2024, it’s not hard to see why Williams wanted to hold the Corapinto in any way.
And that was a pretty obvious grab for Alpine as well. Like him, or dislike him, you cannot deny that Briarthor is mercilessly decisive. If the driver can bring performance and money, Briarthor will never stroll around.
This week, this surprise isn’t that Duhan was demoted after six different races. It’s certainly a brutal decision, and it’s very tough for Australians, and at the same time realizing what Colapinto is concerned about – it’s the departure of team principal Oliver Oaks.
Paddock was bustling with questions about Doohan’s future since Abu Dhabi, but it quieted before Miami and felt like a matter of time before a change occurred. Speculation rose again last weekend, culminating with the announcement that Corapinto will take over the race seats for at least five races.
But no whispers were heard suggesting that Oaks could depart, within all of its focus.
The Oaks were strong at defending Doohan, but even before the season they never ruled out Switch. Back in Bahrain, the team’s principal wanted to remind observers that becoming an F1 driver is a job.
“I actually feel him because I want clickbait, and that’s the topic of discussion,” Oaks said. “But I think he should also be given a little space to continue it for a few rounds, and you, like all drivers, at the end of the day you have to deliver.
Doohan’s final outing against Alpine in Miami certainly didn’t become a team that would give him space. Putting his release from the garage in the sprint qualifiers on his hind legs, Dohan was eliminated in SQ1 and expressed dissatisfaction with team radio, but he bouncing off Pierre Guthrie for the first time on Saturday, before he was taken out of the race by a punk picked up in the contacts in the first corner.
It should be noted that he crashed expensively in Australia and Japan. The latter left the DRS open in turn 1, so Driver Error clearly denounced him – but he also showed a potential flash of light. In six races a year, he certainly didn’t show himself with Guthrie’s Miles, but he also didn’t have many opportunities to show what he could do in Miami.
Still, if Oaks’ resignation was linked to the driver’s decision, that would be a surprise. His comments were always carefully worded, only to promote the belief that Corapinto would be promoted at one stage, and he was a job of Briartoll and played a role in the knowledge of what the executive advisors say.
From the outside, it was clear that Cora Pinto was part of the setup before he got the opportunity in the race seat. That was certainly clear to the Oaks and the team.
All the signs were there from the moment Doohan stepped into the Abu Dhabi car, but aside from the trends of teams competing for the principals of the team in recent seasons, he is currently looking for a fifth in four years, but there is no indicator that the Oaks would depart.
Less than a year after the controversial return, Briartoll’s comeback is perfect to take over the responsibility the Oaks has given up, but the Italians argue that the pair have a good relationship and that his departure is not due to differences of opinion.
Whether or not the true reason emerges, it marks yet another turbulent week with teams unable to reach any kind of stable run. Car performance is usually the hardest to find in F1, but there is a very lacking stability in Alpine.