Alpine have confirmed that Franco Colapinto will replace Jack Doohan from the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola after the rookie amassed an extensive crash damage bill.
Doohan will now spend the rest of the 2025 F1 season as their reserve driver with Colapinto stepping up from his backup role at Alpine to join Pierre Gasly in their race seats from round seven. F1 visits Imola for the Emilia Romagna GP from May 16-18 for the first race in Europe.
Luca de Meo, the CEO of Groupe Renault, plus Alpine executive adviser Flavio Briatore have demoted Doohan for Colapinto having lost patience with his progress. The 22-year-old failed to score a point, and Oliver Oakes quit as Alpine’s team principal after Briatore axed Doohan.
The Miami Grand Prix was the final nail in Doohan’s coffin at Alpine, as well, after he retired on the opening lap after contact with Racing Bulls rival Liam Lawson. It was the second time through the first six rounds of the 2025 F1 season that the Australian retired on the first lap.

Alpine replace Jack Doohan with Franco Colapinto after amassing the biggest 2025 F1 crash damage bill
Doohan had shown glimpses of potential pace since Alpine handed the son of MotoGP icon Mick Doohan his Formula 1 debut at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. But crashes in the 2025 season-opener in Australia, as well as in China, Japan and Miami ensured the axe has swung.
READ MORE: Who is Alpine reserve driver Jack Doohan? All to know from girlfriend to dad
The Gold Coast native had to deliver in his early appearances for Alpine to prove particularly to Briatore, but soon also De Meo, that Doohan deserved more time in F1. Yet the incidents ensured Doohan’s fears came true after Alpine paid Williams £8.5m for Colapinto in January.
It was a large outlay for just a reserve driver, and Doohan would cost Alpine even more with his crashes. According to MostlyF1, Doohan even cost Alpine more than any other F1 driver, having racked up the only repair bill exceeding £1m during the first six rounds of the season.
| RANK | DRIVER | TEAM | REPAIR BILL |
| 1 | Jack Doohan | Alpine | £1.12m |
| 2 | Lando Norris | McLaren | £927,631 |
| 3 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | £757,067 |
| 4 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | £648,516 |
| 5 | Yuki Tsunoda | Racing Bulls/Red Bull | £622,358 |
| 6 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | £614,878 |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | £390,470 |
| 8 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | £386,798 |
| 9 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | £311,982 |
| 10 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | £172,076 |
| 11 | Liam Lawson | Red Bull/Racing Bulls | £143,646 |
| 11 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | £143,646 |
| 13 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | £93,516 |
| 13 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | £93,516 |
| 15 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | £0 |
| 15 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | £0 |
| 15 | Alex Albon | Williams | £0 |
| 15 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | £0 |
| 15 | George Russell | Mercedes | £0 |
| 15 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | £0 |
Doohan’s repair bill after a crash-strewn start to his rookie F1 season for Alpine may also be even higher than £1.12m. His 185mph shunt at Suzuka’s Turn 1 was especially expensive, as claims at the time suggested that Doohan’s Japanese GP FP2 crash cost Alpine £1.3m alone.
Alpine must take more responsibility for Jack Doohan’s crash-strewn rookie F1 season

Yet while Alpine can use Doohan costing the Enstone squad more than any other driver with his crashes over the first six rounds of the 2025 season to justify promoting Colapinto ahead of the Emilia Romagna GP at Imola, the Australian might feel that some were not all his fault.
READ MORE: Who is Alpine 2025 F1 driver Franco Colapinto? Everything you need to know
Doohan will especially feel like his FP2 crash at the Japanese GP was not all his fault and that Alpine ought to field more of the blame for his 50G shunt at Suzuka than the Renault-owned squad did. It really did not help Doohan than Alpine benched him in FP1 to run Ryo Hirakawa.
Reports even claim that Alpine enraged Doohan with their handling of his Japanese GP crash after leaving him to take the fall. He was particularly upset as no one told the Australian that he needed to close his DRS manually for Turn 1, having kept it open while on their simulator.
Doohan’s crash on the first lap of the Australian GP was also little more than a rookie driver getting caught out by the painted lines on a street circuit in heavy rain applying the throttle at Turn 5. Lawson also pinched Doohan onto the Turn 1 kerb for their Miami GP start crash.
Where Alpine can put the full blame on their driver academy product was Doohan’s crashes at the Chinese GP, which even returned all four of his four penalty points. He first hit Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto in the Shanghai Sprint and forced Isack Hadjar off in the Grand Prix.
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