Alpine’s Ruthless Moves Hint at Doohan’s Uncertain F1 Future
Dec.13 - Flavio Briatore has dropped a worrying hint about Jack Doohan's immediate future in Formula 1.
On the face of it, it's smooth sailing for the son of MotoGP legend Mick Doohan, after taking over Esteban Ocon's Alpine cockpit in Abu Dhabi and then following up with the post-season test.
"Extremely grateful for the knowledge and experience gained - a day I had dreamt about my whole life," Doohan, 21, said on X after his grand prix debut last weekend.
"A big thank you to the entire Alpine team for the weekend, I couldn't be happier going into my debut season in 2025."
However, as the Abu Dhabi GP unfolded, a rumour was swirling in the paddock - that new team advisor Briatore had only put Doohan in the car to 'test' the Australian under pressure.
And not just that, related speculation suggested Briatore was also using the Doohan situation to put pressure on both Williams and Franco Colapinto's sponsors.
Williams boss James Vowles has imposed a mid-December deadline for the conclusion of a potential deal with Alpine over the release of the impressive Argentine rookie.
"We are still open to all discussions," Vowles said in Abu Dhabi. "Whether it's about two, three or four years, everything has its price," Blick newspaper had quoted him as saying.
France's Auto Hebdo magazine has now asked Briatore, 74, about the rumours, where the hypothetical situation could see Doohan replaced by Colapinto for 2025.
"My job is to put Alpine back on top," the flamboyant Italian answered. "There is never room for feelings in Formula 1."
Colapinto, who has reportedly amassed an impressive array of Argentine sponsor backing, was seen chatting with Briatore in Abu Dhabi.
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Once again, when will people stop milking something that isn't going to happen anyway, or if it were it would've happened some time ago already.
All these third parties have clearly forgotten that Doohan isn't just any rookie, but one whose career they've invested in since 2022 & for a reason, including all that private testing earlier this year, so they didn't decide to give him a chance only to go back on that later & otherwise, they would've offered someone like Bottas or Magnussen a drive instead as Doohan wasn't their only remaining option after Sainz.
The most baffling thing is that people didn't bother stopping even after the race number selection process, which already happened belatedly rather than shortly after the formal announcement on the Dutch GP practice day, so if the plan were ever going to change & especially if it still were, he & Alpine wouldn't have bothered to go through that process with the FIA, so that was the clear-cut final nail in the coffin for the rumor's validity.
Also again, James Volwes can set any deadline if he wants, but nothing will change this late anymore.
This general thing of third parties making up stuff or misinterpreting for clickbait purposes is one thing about F1 that has annoyed me more or less throughout my time watching & following the series.
If people are so keen to make up stuff about Alpine, they should or should've done the same about Haas regarding Bearman, Mercedes regarding Antonelli, or even Ferrari regarding Leclerc, for that matter.
I guess everyone will stop only after this weekend when the month's halfway point will get passed.
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