Jack Doohan ‘enlisted’ for new role offering F1 return hope as his Alpine exit is finalised

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The New Year marks the beginning of a fresh start for Jack Doohan, as he has now left Alpine after finishing 2025 as an F1 reserve driver after Franco Colapinto took his seat.

Doohan was due to enjoy his rookie F1 season with Alpine in 2025 after he replaced Esteban Ocon at the Enstone outfit at the final round of 2024. Yet the 22-year-old would only contest the opening six rounds of the 2025 campaign before Flavio Briatore gave Colapinto the seat.

Briatore was behind Alpine’s decision to replace Doohan with Colapinto this May, which saw the former return to the reserve driver role he had throughout 2024. But now that 2025 has finished, Doohan is free from his Alpine contract and is already set to join another F1 squad.

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Jack Doohan is set to be Haas’ 2026 F1 simulator and reserve driver after leaving Alpine

That is according to Auto Action, which reports that Doohan will contest the 2026 Japanese Super Formula Championship with Realize Kondo Racing. But Doohan is also set to be an F1 reserve driver with Haas in 2026, along with serving as the team’s test and simulator driver.

READ MORE: Who is Jack Doohan? All you need to know, including his MotoGP icon dad

Haas have ‘enlisted’ the Australian as their 2026 F1 reserve driver for the 15 rounds that do not clash with the Super Formula calendar following his formal departure from Alpine. Haas may also serve as Doohan’s potential route back to the F1 paddock as a full-time race driver.

The American squad have moved to hire Doohan as his reputation in Alpine’s simulator after losing his race seat to Colapinto did not go unnoticed among rival teams. Alpine’s engineers also highly rated Doohan’s work ‘behind the scenes’, despite knowing a return was unlikely.

Now, Doohan joining Haas as a reserve driver could help him to return to F1 as a race driver in the future through their ties to Toyota. The Japanese brand increased its relationship with Haas to be their title sponsor from 2026, and are even ‘tightly entwined’ with Kondo Racing.

Jack Doohan teased his release from Alpine with a pointed Instagram post

Doohan had already teased his release from Alpine on Instagram at the end of December, as he shared a number of photographs from his time with the team across the 2025 season. He also included images of himself hugging Alpine team staff in the garage as if to say goodbye.

READ MORE: Who is Alpine’s F1 executive adviser Flavio Briatore? Everything to know

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Notably, Doohan also rounded off his uncaptioned Instagram post – which Haas driver Ocon has liked – with an image of the Australian celebrating after an F2 race in 2023 with former Alpine F1 team principal Otmar Szafnauer. This was arguably a pointed message to Briatore.

Alpine sacked Szafnauer rather unceremoniously in the moments immediately after practice had finished on the first day at the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix. Bruno Famin took over as their team principal, and he seemed to follow in Szafnauer’s footsteps as an advocate of Doohan.

Famin and Doohan agreed that he would sit out all racing in 2024 to prepare for a potential debut in Formula 1 during the 2025 season. That chance, eventually, materialised, as Alpine revealed that Doohan would replace Ocon in August 2024 as Famin’s tenure came to an end.

But Briatore never supported Doohan like Szafnauer or Famin, and the Australian’s place on the grid was quickly at risk even before his debut. It was said in November 2024 that Alpine gave Doohan a five-round contract for 2025 as Briatore was already keen to field Colapinto.