Is Jack Doohan Steering Towards an Early End at F1?
Feb.17 - One former driver is anticipating an early end to Jack Doohan's brand new Formula 1 career in 2025.
With Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon locking out the Williams race lineup for now, and the team needing money more than another driver, boss James Vowles agreed to a reported five-year 'loan' of Franco Colapinto to Alpine.
Vowles has hinted several times that a key part of the deal is the possibility that the promising driver could be back on the grid as early as 2025.
"There's a period of time where I expect him to be racing for Alpine," Vowles is quoted as saying. "The reason we did this is that I really want him to be racing again.
"For me, Alpine represented the best opportunity for Franco to be a race driver for 2026 and perhaps as early as 2025. That is what was important to me - to give him a good opportunity to have the option to race in the sport, which is what he deserves.
"Alpine is the best chance he has without being with us."
There is no doubt that if Colapinto, 21, does step into the race cockpit, it will be at the expense of 22-year-old Australian rookie Doohan.
"I don't want to say that it's an attack on Jack," Vowles said. "I hope Jack does well, but ultimately Franco is my driver and I want him to get back on the grid after a while."
As for whether the loan to Flavio Briatore-advised Alpine really is for a full five years, Vowles answered: "The timeframe is not set in stone, where I can look you in the eye and say that. But I can say that he will return to Williams at some point.
"The most important thing is that he will be an Alpine driver for a number of years."
Many experts and journalists believe Doohan is only being guaranteed a handful of races to prove himself at the very beginning of the 2025 season.
"We'll see if Jack Doohan starts the year," Roberto Merhi, who raced for Marussia in 2015, told Spanish radio Cadena Cope.
"But I think he will certainly not be there after five races."
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Of course, Robert Merhi's view is irrelevant as he doesn't speak for Alpine, & Jack Doohan's performance level will definitely matter early on, so an early change is unlikely in any case.
However, I think a switch could be inevitable around the summer break or beyond due to the circumstances of Franco Colapinto's hiring regarding which, as pointed out before, the term 'buyout' literally means the end of employment (already in business generally) with company X buying the rights & services from company Y by buying out a contract, i.e., proving financial compensation for termination.
A buyout is a serious action, & therefore, it isn't something any party would commit to lightly or without relevance, not to mention to serve others, so claiming differently is contradictory, even from James Vowles.
Otherwise, Alpine wouldn't have voluntarily bothered with any buyout action if it didn't truly matter in the end due to the temporary financial burden on them.
If/when Colapinto replaces Doohan as a full-time driver later in the season to justify the buyout fee & Argentine sponsors, this almost certain switch would happen with a long-term intention, making the circumstances of his hiring all the more clear.
Do we think JV is holding onto Cocacola, because he knows in his heart that either of his drivers might not be in a Williams long term, thats my bet, Oh and I think we all understand the term buy out but thanks anyway
I admit that I may have gone a bit overboard, especially since I'd already brought up the matter once.
Simply out of confusion, I ended up doing that again because I've always understood 'buyout' as a general term to mean one thing with a clear definition.
However, thinking that Albon & Sainz wouldn't truly be in the Williams project for the long-term is at least somewhat far-fetched as neither of them has any realistic alternatives for the medium to longer term anymore, & certainly no better ones or they would've already been offered such chances.
Alpine big plans, Haas equally now, along with Audi and Andretti, id say lots of options for AA or CS in 2-3 years and thats without Max taking a potential sabbatical and Hamilton retiring, With AA and CS arent they both only contracted till end 26, so thats not long is it? just an opinion....
Since Colapinto's hiring, Alpine isn't realistically an option for any other driver anymore, even the other two reserve drivers.
Haas has both drivers on multi-year deals as well as unlikely to leave in the foreseeable future anyway, which is ultimately true for almost every team, including Audi.
Cadillac, on the other hand, has other priorities that would likely last beyond 2026, i.e., their eventual choice of an American driver would be a long-term hiring & the same regarding the 'experienced' driver alongside, i.e., most likely Perez (thanks to Carlos Slim) as long as he's motivated to compete in F1 again, so I struggle to see a space opening for them there either.
Btw, both AA & CS are contracted until at least 2027-end for reference.
Btw, both AA & CS are contracted until at least 2027-end for reference.
Without break clauses too I suppose lol, every marriage is long term until a divorce, have you forgotton Perez divorce so soon
Of course, every single driver has a break or exit clause, so in this regard anything's possible, but the point is simply that changes are unlikely in the medium term unless something more drastic happens.
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