Australian F1 star Jack Doohan's career already under threat

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Australian F1 driver Jack Doohan appears under significant pressure before his first full-time season even begins at this year's Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park on 14-16 March, 2025.

Jack Doohan – son of five-time 500cc motorcycle world champion Mick Doohan – landed his first full-time F1 seat when he was signed to drive at Alpine alongside Frenchman Pierre Gasly for the 2025 F1 season.

Yet reports suggest 21-year-old Doohan – who made his Grand Prix debut at the 2024 season-ending race in Abu Dhabi – has only six races to keep his seat or risk being benched.

Pressure mounted on 10 January 2025 after Alpine announced not one but two test-and-reserve drivers instead of the typical single ‘spare’ driver.

Argentinian sensation Franco Colapinto – who impressed despite numerous crashes after replacing Logan Sargeant at Williams for the last nine races of 2024 – was signed on a ‘multi-year’ deal alongside a second Alpine test and reserve driver, Japan’s Ryo Hirakawa.

Colapinto's impressive on-track efforts didn't see him signed for a full-time 2025 drive, with all other full-time seats across the grid already taken – including Alpine's signing of Doohan, whose seat he now appears to be a serious threat to.

Alpine's Flavio Briatore – who re-joined the team in mid 2025 as an executive advisor – told media at the reserve driver announcement no-one's place in the team was secure.

"The only thing we can be sure of is death," Mr Briatore said when asked if Doohan's seat was safe for the full 2025 F1 season.

"We'll start the year with Pierre and Jack [as race drivers], I can guarantee that. After that, we'll see as the season progresses," he added.

"I have to get the team in the right condition to get results and the driver is the one who has to conclude the work of nearly 1000 people behind him. Everyone works for just two people.

"If there's a driver who isn't making progress, who isn't bringing me results, I change him. You can't be emotional in F1."

It's a stark contrast to the relative security of signing a deal to race at all 24 events on the 2025 F1 calendar which starts with the Australian Grand Prix in March.

It also marks the second Australian driver to be involved in controversial contract deals with Alpine, the team owned by a consortium including Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds.

Oscar Piastri – who won the first and second Grands Prix of his F1 career on the way to helping McLaren win the 2024 constructors world championship – famously rejected the team's claim to him as a driver on social media in 2022.

Piastri – who is managed by nine-time Grand Prix winner and fellow Australian, Mark Webber – instead signed for McLaren, vindicated by his strong results since, and who he will continue to drive for in 2025.

Alpine underwent considerable upheaval in 2024, with its team principal Bruno Famin replaced by Oliver Oakes – its third boss in 12 months – after the team controversially enlisted the help of Italian former team boss Briatore.

Mr Briatore had been given a lifetime ban by the FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile) – F1's governing body – after the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix when he was running the team, known at the time as Renault.

The ban was applied for Briatore's involvement in 'fixing' the result, after a deliberate crash by its driver, Nelson Piquet Junior, to cause a Safety Car intervention to help Renault team-mate Fernando Alonso win the race. 

Briatore's reinstatement came after the ban was overturned in 2010 as part of the team underwent a rebuild, which saw Ocon depart for Doohan in 2025.

The team also saw personnel changes and a contentious switch from Renault engines – Alpine being a performance sub-brand of the French car maker – for Mercedes-Benz customer engines from 2026.

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