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Jack Doohan was never able to match one record Franco Colapinto set during his rookie season before being replaced by Alpine

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Jack Doohan’s brief stay in the top flight is over after just six races. He failed to impress Alpine enough and has been replaced.

The incoming Franco Colapinto now has just five races to prove his value before potentially being shipped off again.

Alpine’s driver yoyo looks like an absolute nightmare, but they may be preparing for the 2026 F1 regulations by ensuring that they have no doubts about their driver selection.

So Jack Doohan’s chance in Formula 1 may not be over yet. The door could be ajar if his replacement struggles.

Doohan cost Alpine £1.12 million in crash damage and seemed to be quite accident-prone, suffering major shunts at multiple races.

If he doesn’t want to remain at the team, Cadillac could offer Doohan ‘refuge’ by offering him a seat for next season.

READ MORE: Flavio Briatore deliberately tried to ‘highlight’ Jack Doohan’s weaknesses by taking surprise decision at Alpine

F1 Grand Prix of Miami - Sprint & Qualifying
Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Jack Doohan failed to beat Franco Colapinto’s top speed record from the 2024 F1 season

Doohan was one of just four in the drivers’ championship yet to have scored a point, showing just how much he has struggled at times.

Alpine have never been renowned for their strong engine and high top speeds, and that made Doohan’s life beating a Colapinto record from 2024 difficult.

Whilst driving for Williams last year, Colapinto had a crazy pace in Las Vegas and managed to set the fastest top speed in qualifying all season.

It cleared second-place Fernando Alonso by nearly 3km/h, with a speed of 356.4km/h before he crashed in Nevada.

Now he’s back on the grid, the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix will play host to the Argentine’s return – a track that he is yet to complete a full weekend at.

READ MORE: What Alpine are now planning to do with Jack Doohan if Franco Colapinto switch is confirmed

Have Alpine made the right decision to replace Jack Doohan with Franco Colapinto?

While Doohan might have struggled in his first six races, he showed flashes of speed. There have been worse rookies than him before.

He was 5-1 down in the qualifying head-to-head with teammate Pierre Gasly, and 1-1 in sprint qualifying sessions.

As someone who is just coming into the sport against a seasoned veteran, that was a solid effort. It’s easy to forget that he took a year out in 2024 and missed a lot of racing too.

So, after taking some time to get sharp and fresh again, he has been relieved of his duties at the very worst moment. Just as he was starting to build some momentum.

Whether it was the right choice will depend entirely on how Colapinto performs. If he is slow, then virtually nothing good will have come from the matter/