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Alpine confirms: Here is Pierre Gasly's new teammate
- Ludo van Denderen
It had been in the air for a while, but now it is final: Jack Doohan will make his debut as a full-time Formula 1 driver in 2025. The Australian has been given a contract at Alpine, where he will be a teammate of Pierre Gasly. Doohan is the successor to Esteban Ocon, who will move to Haas F1 after the current season.
Doohan and Alpine know each other through and through. In fact, the 21-year-old driver was included in the Alpine Academy, and drove on behalf of the team in Formula 3 and Formula 2 in the past. In the current season, Doohan is the French team's test and reserve driver. In mainly private tests, Doohan will be prepared for his full F1 debut next year.
Alpine miss out on Carlos Sainz
With the signing of Doohan, Alpine have finalised their driver line-up for next year. Recently recruited adviser Flavio Briatore reportedly preferred to bring in Carlos Sainz, but the Spaniard opted for a switch to Williams. Mick Schumacher (running for Alpine's WEC team) and Guanyu Zhou (Sauber) were also in the picture. For both these drivers, it will be difficult to find a spot on the grid for '25.
Doohan is expected to compete in at least one FP1 in Formula 1 later this season. In Canada, he was allowed to sit in the car during the first free practice session, but that was a session in which Doohan could hardly drive laps. The road surface was too wet in Montreal and Alpine did not want to take any risks.
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