Vowles' statements indicate that Doohan starts unfair fight with Colapinto
F1 News
With the arrival of Franco Colapinto, Jack Doohan is under immense pressure before the season has even started. Indeed, James Vowles' statements indicate that Colapinto is hunting for an F1 seat, meaning Jack must perform to keep his seat.
"Williams has one of the best driver line-ups in Formula 1 with Alexander Albon and Carlos Sainz. We therefore believe this deal with Alpine gives Franco the best chance of a race seat in 2025 or 2026."
It was one sentence in Williams team boss James Vowles' statement, but a sentence with a lot of connotation. Williams' statement was mainly a farewell to Colapinto, but it also put direct pressure on Alpine. Indeed, Vowles first stated that Williams has a better driver duo than Alpine, but also indirectly stated that at Alpine, there is a good chance that a driver will be fired during the 2025 season.
Otherwise, how else would Colapinto's chances of getting a race seat be greater at Alpine than at Williams? Both teams have drivers under contract, but at Alpine one driver has been under a magnifying glass for months. Doohan had barely driven before his seat already seemed under threat.
Alpine had long been a fan of Colapinto
Vowles' statements did not come out of the blue, of course. Williams wanted to see money for Colapinto, but will also have raised questions about his future plan. Indeed, if there had been no chance of a seat in F1 at all, the Argentine could have started working as Williams' reserve. The opportunity at Alpine, however, is there.
In 2024, it soon became clear that Flavio Briatore was very keen on Colapinto. Briatore, a man who does not turn his hand to a quick dismissal of a driver, was seen on several occasions with Colapinto in the F1 paddock. Although Jack Doohan had been signed, interest in Colapinto increased due to his good performance for Williams.
For now, the permanent seat is reserved for Doohan, who will finally get his chance as an Alpine junior. However, he will have to perform better than he did in Abu Dhabi to keep his seat. If he qualifies five tenths off Pierre Gasly every weekend, the camera will switch more than once to the man in the garage: Colapinto.
Another factor in this is that Colapinto has proved that he is indeed immediately fast when he gets in. Whereas Doohan was beaten by five-tenths, Colapinto was only 0.024s behind Albon on average and even qualified ahead of the Thai twice. It has to be said, though, that Colapinto was also five-tenths slower than Albon in his first qualifying session for Williams, so with him too, time ensured he could prove himself.
Still, like his compatriot Daniel Ricciardo, Doohan seems to be embarking on an unwinnable battle. As a rookie, he needs to be extremely close to Gasly, even beating him on several occasions, so as not to come close to an early dismissal. It is not a peaceful situation for a young talent to develop himself. But as the son of the legendary Mick Doohan, that is precisely the situation in which he manages to prove everyone wrong.
This article was written in collaboration with Olly Darcy
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