Alpine’s choice to replace Esteban Ocon has now ‘signed a contract’ for the 2025 F1 season

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French outfit Alpine have had a very tough 2024 season and will already be looking forward to next year.

However, there’s already a lot of uncertainty around Alpine as several key events have taken place within the team.

Flavio Briatore has arrived as Renault CEO Luca de Meo’s executive advisor.

The F1 paddock believes Alpine may be up for sale soon given Briatore’s arrival but there have been other movements within the team too.

Bruno Famin has been replaced by Oliver Oakes as team principal and the Renault engine program appears to be under serious threat.

All of this has happened against the backdrop of a campaign that has seen Alpine average less than one point per race weekend.

Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon are 15^th and 17^th respectively in the Drivers’ Championship and the latter has decided to move on for next year.

Speaking on the Pit Talk Podcast, journalist Mat Coch believes a new driver has been signed for 2025.

Plenty of drivers have been linked with the seat, but it looks like young Australian Jack Doohan is set for the role.

Doohan was also on Sauber’s shortlist to partner Nico Hulkenberg, but sticking with the team that have trained him for several years makes the most sense.

It appears as though the 21-year-old will be on the grid next year although an official announcement may not be imminent.

READ MORE: Who is Alpine reserve driver Jack Doohan? Everything you need to know

Jack Doohan has ‘signed a contract’ with Alpine for the 2025 F1 season

Talking about the second Alpine seat after discussing Sauber’s potential options, Coch said: “You’ve got a similar sort of situation at Alpine.

“I’m led to believe that Jack Doohan has signed a contract that hasn’t been announced.

“There were suggestions that it was going to be announced this week, I checked with the team and they told me that it’s not.

“Do they promote from within, do they bring an experienced driver in such as Valtteri Bottas alongside Pierre Gasly? It’s interesting.”

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Alpine F1 Team from team principal to lineage

Ted Kravitz believes Jack Doohan’s Formula 1 future is an open secret

Alpine’s tricky season has meant that during a year where so many drivers were out of contract, nobody was desperate to join the French manufacturer.

Given that Ocon and Gasly haven’t had the easiest relationship, it’s not surprising that the team’s senior management decided a change was needed for 2025 and beyond.

Ocon joining Haas suited all parties and it’ll be interesting to see how he can help progress that team given their surprisingly strong start to this year.

However, Ted Kravitz believes everyone already knew that Doohan would be signing for Alpine before he put pen to paper on a contract.

His work as a reserve and simulator driver has been heralded by the team and a year of getting to grips with the car before the regulations change in 2026 suits everyone.

It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him take part in several more FP1 sessions this year ahead of his full debut.

The six-time Formula 2 race winner be hoping they’re not as disrupted by the weather as his first two attempts to get out in the A524 have been.