RacingMick Doohan says Alpine had already decided to replace his son Jack before the 2025 Formula 1 season even started, and he called the move unfair in an interview with Spanish outlet Marca. The five-time champion on two wheels, and Jack’s father, put the team’s mid-season switch under a harsh light.
Jack Doohan made his F1 debut for Alpine at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix alongside Pierre Gasly. He entered 2025 with a race seat Alpine had promised him, according to reports at the time. In January 2025 the team signed Williams talent Franco Colapinto as its reserve. Six rounds into 2025, after Miami, Alpine announced a driver swap that moved Doohan to a reserve role and handed Colapinto his Alpine debut. During the team’s difficult run, neither Doohan nor Colapinto scored a championship point.
“I really can't comment on that, but I think it was unfair. It was from the start. They replaced a driver before the season even began. And, basically, that was it,” Mick Doohan, Jack Doohan’s father and a motor legend, said in an interview with Spanish outlet Marca.
“My son had a long-term contract; he was Alpine's first junior driver to arrive. It was clear, for reasons I can't say, that a different direction was taken,” Mick Doohan, Jack Doohan’s father and a motor legend, said in the same interview with Marca, pointing to the contract and the sudden change of plan.
Doohan left Alpine at the start of 2026. Shortly after, Haas announced him as its reserve driver. He is also racing in the European Le Mans Series. “He's with Haas F1 now, as a reserve driver, looking to secure a seat and with a team that's more committed to contracts,” Mick Doohan, Jack Doohan’s father and a motor legend, said to Marca. He added an update on his son’s current program: “Look, Jack is a strong young man, and his plan is... He's racing now, in Barcelona, with a race car,” Mick Doohan, Jack Doohan’s father and a motor legend, said in the same interview with Marca.