Jack Doohan has been replaced at Alpine by Franco Colapinto ahead of the Imola F1 race and there could be another change on the cards soon, according to reports
After just six rounds of the 2025 Formula 1 season, we already have our second driver change. Jack Doohan has lost his place on the grid after failing to score a point for Alpine with reserve Franco Colapinto coming in for the next five races to prove himself.
Confirmation of the change came just 12 hours after the shock news that Alpine team principal Oliver Oakes had handed in his resignation. In his place, Renault adviser Flavio Briatore has taken the reins and his first act was to make that driver swap happen.
Doohan is, of course, not the first driver to be removed from his role this year. Liam Lawson was dropped by Red Bull just two rounds into the season, though he does remain on the grid with sister team Racing Bulls for now.
But Doohan will have to make do with being a reserve driver again for the next few weeks. He still has hope of getting another chance, though, with Alpine confirming that Colapinto only has a contract for five races and that the team will reassess their situation ahead of the British Grand Prix in July.
And Alpine might not be the only ones who have to do some reconsidering in the coming weeks and months. Despite that very early swap, things at Red Bull don’t seem to be all that settled right now either.
READ MORE: Jack Doohan breaks silence after brutal Alpine F1 demotionREAD MORE: Flavio Briatore explains Jack Doohan demotion after second shock Alpine F1 exit
Yuki Tsunoda was promoted to replace Lawson who buckled under the pressure of that Red Bull Racing seat. And the Japanese has managed to do better than the Kiwi did, by qualifying higher up the grid and scoring points in Bahrain and Miami.
But he is not as close to Max Verstappen as the team needs him to be, if they are to have a successful season in the constructors’ championship this year. And there is growing speculation that Tsunoda too may soon find himself under pressure.
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German outlet Bild reports that Red Bull chiefs are “growing impatient” with the Japanese driver, despite the fact he has raced in just four Grands Prix for the top team. It is also reported that Tsunoda “could lose his seat” if he cannot make swift improvements.
Tsunoda has a contract with Red Bull’s F1 operations until the end of the season. However, the team has rarely shied away from breaking contracts when it feels it is necessary – Sergio Perez was axed at the end of last year after penning a deal for 2025, and that came a few months after Daniel Ricciardo was shown the door.
He came to be part of the Red Bull set-up through their engine partnership with Honda, the Japanese carmaker with which Tsunoda remains affiliated. But that collaboration will cease at the end of this year with Red Bull making their own engines with help from Ford in 2026, while Honda will partner with Aston Martin.
The latter have Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll on contract for 2026, but the former in particular is growing frustrated with the team’s performance and, aged 43, is in the twilight of his F1 career. It has been speculated that Tsunoda could follow Honda to join Aston, though the team is mostly interested in convincing Verstappen to join should the Dutchman decide to leave Red Bull.
