Jack Doohan said he is looking forward to the next race at Imola after crashing out on the first lap of the Miami Grand Prix.
However doubt remains over whether he will start his eighth grand prix for Alpine next week.Doohan tangled with Liam Lawson at turn one after the start of yesterday’s race and retired with damage halfway around the first lap.
He declined to comment on the collision afterwards. “As we all know, nothing would be intentional,” said Doohan. “Unfortunately, he got squeezed there. I don’t know, maybe he had a car on his outside. We just have to look into it because it didn’t end well for me and I don’t think it helped him out as well.
“We’ve just got to keep our heads up. Looking forward to Imola now.”
It remains to be seen whether Doohan will drive for Alpine at Imola. Last week the team dismissed fresh rumours he would be replaced in their line-up by Franco Colapinto after the Miami race. One of Colapinto’s sponsors said his driver would make his debut “in Imola” in comments caught by a hot mic during an interview for a news channel in Argentina.
Doohan’s first-lap retirement capped a frustrating weekend in Miami. He criticised the team after he was delayed leaving the pits during the first round of qualifying for the sprint race.
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Although he out-qualified team mate Pierre Gasly for the first time in a grand prix, Doohan’s first-lap tangle with Lawson means he remains point-less after the first six rounds.
“Unfortunately the things that have gone wrong this weekend have been outside of my control,” he said afterwards. “But you always have to reflect as well and see in those situations if there was anything that I could have done better.
“So I will be reflecting on that for a brief period of time before just switching my focus to the upcoming race in Imola.”
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lynn-m
5th May 2025, 15:20
I think it would be harsh to replace him as he’s shown good speed and out-qualified Gasly on merit in Miami which suggests he’s making progress.
If he was miles away from Gasly’s pace and not showing any hints of getting any closer then I guess it woudl be fair to start considering other options but that really isn’t the case and hasn’t been since day 1 as he was actually faster than Gasly after his first FP session in Melbourne & repeated then after FP2 & I know practice times aren’t everything with different programs and stuff but it was a good indicator of solid pace.
Replacing him with Colapinto would be a pure cash grab but that can’t be right can it as don’t we keep been told pay drivers are a thing of the past because of the wonderful job Liberty have supposedly done.
Martin (@f1hornet)
5th May 2025, 20:11
I agree with this. He’s not setting the timing boards alight, but there’s nothing that suggests he’s so terrible he needs to be dropped already for another rookie. I would also say putting Doohan under so much pressure before the season has even started isn’t very helpful either. Meanwhile, while I was initially impressed by Colapinto, I don’t see why he’s so great to force a driver out of an existing seat either.
Polweiss
7th May 2025, 6:19
Colapinto matched Albon who’s above Sainz who matched Leclerc who’s above Hamilton
Mig29smt
5th May 2025, 15:49
Too much time of this guy, he doesn’t have anything that makes you think he deserves a place in F1 and needs to be sacked right away.
Roger Ayles (@roger-ayles)
5th May 2025, 16:40
Guess they need to get rid of Gasly as well then given how Gasly has been very close to his pace and even faster than him on a few occasions now.
And he has many wins in F2/F3 to his name including 2nd/3rd place finishes in those championships which is a better record in those categories than some other current F1 drivers. Guess all of them need to be sacked as well for having done nothing to deserve an F1 seat?
Jere (@jerejj)
5th May 2025, 15:53
Even though Horacio Marin meant his remark as wishful thinking, it could prove true, after all.
An unfortunate situation for Doohan, but what can he do against Colapinto’s strong sponsor backing & marketability?
Btw, Doohan didn’t decline to comment on his T1 collision with Lawson per se, but simply touched on it to the greatest possible extent in his pen interviews, given his driving POV was his only visual of it at the time.
Simon
6th May 2025, 18:11
Oh dear…
Edvaldo
5th May 2025, 16:41
He’s obviously nothing special, but at the same time he was given a very bad hand, similar to Devries in the AT team.
Both were signed due to a lack of better options and then a better option becomes available and the team quickly signs them as a reserve driver, obviously planning a switch, that will happen one way or another.
Ankita
5th May 2025, 17:05
I feel for him but I disagree that it would be unfair to replace him. There are F2 champions waiting for an opportunity. Doohan has not won any major championship, yet he got an F1 seat. True, he has been under pressure from day 1 but he had 7 races to show something and he hasn’t. In my view, he has been the least impressive of rookies (Lawson has been worse this year but his performances in 2023 and 2024 were better).
On the other hand, I was impressed with Colapinto. His silly mistake in Vegas cost him a lot for the rest of the season as the team had limited spare parts. But that mistake came at the end of Q2 at a time he had already beaten Albon in qualifying and had timed two excellent lap sectors that would have given him access to Q3. Who knows how he will do at Alpine but he definitively deserves the seat more.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
5th May 2025, 21:11
I think the same too, tbh I’m surprised to see comments it’s unfair to replace him, he hasn’t impressed me and crashes often, when you have someone like briatore who wants to replace you, you have to perform if you want to change your destiny, he’s given him no reason to change his mind.
Gerrit
5th May 2025, 20:38
Question on sponsors payments made on behalf of drivers. Where do those payments sit in the cost cap expenditure calculation (for the revenue has to go somewhere) . Does say Honda money for the Tsunoda seat gets spent by Red Bull and needs that money be included in the cost cap? Same for Colapinto’s Argentinian money. Are Alpine so far under the cost cap that the Argentinian money is able to be spent by the team?
Or does the money disappear into team principal back pocket’s? Maybe on flasher motor homes?
One can easily see that the path to F1 (through the F3/F2 channel and the super license pathway) is a money making operation for the teams where only the richest (and not the best) drivers get further up the ladder, and the teams use this cash to stay solvent? Guess with a licensed to compete in a closed franchise competition series structure it is inevitable that the volume of money a driver brings, counts more than the drivers ability.
anon
5th May 2025, 22:19
Gerrit, without a detailed breakdown of how exactly the team are spending their money, it’s not really possible to provide an exact answer to your question.
It’s possible that there are some areas that are subject to a cost cap where Alpine could spend that additional money. However, we also know that there are also certain areas that are not subject to the cost cap that Alpine may also be spending money on (certain types of expenses or benefits for employees, expenses relating to property and so on), so Alpine could potentially increase their spending in those areas whilst still meeting the cost cap.
SteveR (@stever)
6th May 2025, 0:23
Well, Alpine received $95 million for its payout share in 2024, and the spend limit is $135 million for 2025, so the team has to make up $40 million in some way, either from sponsor money or other sources. Seems the sponsor money would just go into the kitty as a credit to accounts. It’s worth remembering that some spend items, like driver salaries, salaries of the three highest paid staff, travel expenses and other stuff don’t count towards the cap so the team will spend more than the $135 million limit.
Riker (@corsair)
5th May 2025, 22:27
Hoping Alpine don’t use the Red Bull book of driver management and replace Doohan for a driver that isn’t really an improvement but just brings a bit more money (pay driver). Oh wait, this is Alpine, they always need money. Sigh.
RatSack
6th May 2025, 4:43
It seems more like Alpine is desperate to get rid of Doohan before he puts a decent performance together. Otherwise they will have a harder time getting rid of him to fulfill sponsor agreements to put Colapinto in the car.
While I don’t think he is anything special there are signs he could be a solid driver with more experience and support.
– He hasn’t been absolutely smashed by Gasly, usually somewhat close behind in qualifying and the race when they are not trying hail Mary tire strategies.
– Was setting purple sectors in Bahrain qualifying, unfortunately never quite got the whole lap together to get out of Q2.
– Many of his mistakes seem like the type of mistakes someone who is under too much pressure to perform would make (risky overtakes and over aggressive defence)
Martin
6th May 2025, 14:02
I definitely haven’t been blown away by Doohan and I would like to see Franco back in F1 but there is another angle to this which I’m surprised no one has mentioned: contracts.
There was a lot of talk in the off season about how Doohan only had a 6 race contract (assuming it was racing weekends and sprints don’t count). Now I haven’t seen anything to confirm that is the case but given the comments being made around Imola, it does line up.
So the question is not whether or not they “drop” Doohan, it’s whether he has done enough to convince Flavio and the team that he warrants a contract extension. Based on the start of the season, I don’t think he has.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
6th May 2025, 19:47
Out with all the nepo babies! Doohan, Sainz, Stroll, Verstappen.