The first race of a Formula 1 driver’s career should be a huge highlight. A time for excitement, anticipation, and the start of a journey that you’d expect to last more than seven rounds. But Jack Doohan’s future was already being called into question even as he lined up in the grid in Abu Dhabi at the end of last year.
Franco Colapinto had become an extremely attractive proposition for a team in a state of limbo. Alpine was a year out from ending its power unit program and becoming a customer team, and executive advisor Flavio Briatore was not shying away from making tough decisions. So the potential availability of a driver who had shown impressive pace and ability for Williams, but also came with significant financial backing from Argentina and South America, was always going to be of interest.
Suggestions that Doohan was getting just one race at the end of 2024 as an audition and could lose his seat over the winter proved inaccurate, but the pressure on the Australian only increased during the off-season when Colapinto was signed as a reserve option, effectively on loan from Williams. At that point, the writing was already on the wall.
Despite Alpine insisting that it was not pre-determined that Colapinto would race for the team, Williams team principal James Vowles gave the game away.
“There’s a period of time whereby I hope he is racing for Alpine,” Vowles said at the Williams pre-season launch. “The reason why we did this is that I wanted him to be racing in ’25 and/or ’26. It’s the best chance he has is with Alpine, as far as [getting on the grid], that’s why he’s there. And I don’t mean that to the detriment of Jack.
“I hope Jack has a successful time. But ultimately, Franco is my driver that I want back in that car. After a period of time, he’ll return to Williams. That period of time is not a line set in stone where I can look you in the eye and say it. But I can say he’ll be back to Williams at some point.”
It’s not hard to see why Williams wanted to hold onto Colapinto in some form, given the potential he showed at the end of 2024. There were too many heavy crashes but he was a rookie suddenly handed the seat mid-season, and by letting him join Alpine for a spell he might become a competitor but he would also gain valuable experience to help smoothen out the rough edges.
And it was a fairly obvious grab for Alpine, too. Like him or loathe him, you can’t deny that Briatore is ruthlessly decisive. If a driver can bring performance and money, Briatore is never going to hang around.
What has been such a surprise this week is not that Doohan was demoted after six races — certainly a brutal decision and one that is extremely harsh on the Australian, at the same time as making sense where Colapinto is concerned — but it’s the departure of team principal Oliver Oakes.
There had been no outward signs of tension at Alpine between executive advisor Flavio Briatore (left) and team principal Oliver Oakes, but the former is now holding both roles while the latter is out. Sam Bagnall/Getty Images
The paddock was abuzz with questions about Doohan’s future ever since Abu Dhabi, but had gone quieter prior to Miami as it simply felt like a matter of time until a change was made. This past weekend saw that speculation ramp up again, culminating in the announcement that Colapinto will take over the race seat for the next five races at the very least.
Yet amid all of that focus, there wasn’t a single whisper I heard suggesting that Oakes could be set to depart.
Oakes had been strong in his defense of Doohan, but never ruled out the switch, even as early as pre-season. Back in Bahrain, the team principal was keen to remind observers that it’s a job to be an F1 driver, and delivering on track was the name of the game.
“I actually feel for him because I get everybody wants the clickbait and that’s a discussion topic,” Oakes had said. “But I think also he should be given a bit of space to just get on with it for a few rounds and then at the end of the day, like every driver, you’ve got to deliver. But I think he’s done a really good job at blocking out the noise and just getting on with it.”
Doohan’s last outing for Alpine in Miami certainly did not amount to the team giving him space. Being put on the back foot by the timing of his release from the garage in Sprint qualifying led to Doohan being eliminated in SQ1 and voicing his displeasure over team radio, but he bounced back to outqualify Pierre Gasly for the first time on Saturday before being taken out of the race by a puncture picked up in first-corner contact where he was the innocent party.
It must be noted he had crashed expensively in Australia and Japan — the latter due to leaving the DRS open at Turn 1, a driver error the team clearly blamed him for — but he had also shown flashes of potential. Six races into the year, he certainly hadn’t shown himself to be miles adrift of Gasly, but he also hadn’t had much of a chance to show what he could do in Miami.
And yet if Oakes’ resignation was linked to the driver decision, it would be a surprise. His comments had always been carefully worded in a way that only fueled the conviction that at some stage Colapinto would be promoted, and he was a Briatore hire, taking the role in the knowledge that what the executive advisor says, goes.
It was clear from the outside that Colapinto was part of the setup in advance of him getting an opportunity in a race seat, and to that end it was surely obvious to Oakes and the team internally, too.
All of the signs were there from the moment Doohan stepped into the car in Abu Dhabi, but aside from the team’s propensity to race through team principals in recent seasons — now looking for its fifth in four years — there were no such indicators that Oakes was set to depart.
Less than a year on from his controversial return, Briatore’s comeback is complete as he takes over the responsibilities Oakes has relinquished, but the Italian insists the pair have a good relationship and his departure was not due to any disagreement.
Whether the true reasons come out or not, it marks yet another tumultuous week at a team that just cannot get on a steady run of any kind. Car performance is usually the hardest thing to find in F1, but at Alpine it’s stability that is so sorely lacking.
