Official: Jack Doohan promoted by Alpine as F1 2025 driver

A renewal with a lot (too much) of changes

Almost every day, Alpine makes the headlines. But not necessarily for the right reasons. At Spa-Francorchamps, it once again dismissed its team principal, with the departure of Bruno Famin on Friday. This Wednesday, she announced his replacement, Oliver Oakes.

Today, it is the drivers’ front that the Franco-British team has regained control of. With Carlos Sainz’s refusal, they lost their last hopes of bringing in a top driver. In such a situation, the only solution is to turn to youth. Alpine is fortunate to have its own Academy, which aims to provide the team with promising young drivers. Last year, they thought they would benefit from it with the promotion of Oscar Piastri but it turned into a fiasco. The Australian then headed to McLaren, which allowed him to taste his first F1 victory.

Victory is increasingly wishful thinking within the Enstone team as Esteban Ocon’s in 2021 appears as an anomaly, while the blue cars struggle to consistently score points.

The promotion of a driver from the academy

Finally, Alpine has just confirmed another one of its young drivers, Jack Doohan. The Australian hasn’t impressed greatly in the feeder series, even though he finished as runner-up in F3 in 2021 and third in F2 last year.

But the son of the motorcycle champion has other assets: his manager is Flavio Briatore, the new strongman of the team. In addition, he had participated in the Asian F3 championship within HiTech, founded and directed by Oliver Oakes.

Alpine has therefore chosen Jack Doohan rather than renewing the experience of a 100% French driver duo with Victor Martins alongside Pierre Gasly. The prospects for the French driver, currently twelfth in F2, therefore seem very slim in single-seaters.

Jack Doohan over the moon

« I am delighted to be promoted as a full-time driver with the Alpine F1 Team in 2025. I am very grateful for the trust that the team management is giving me. There is so much work to do to be ready and I will do my best to absorb as much information and knowledge as possible to be at my best when the time comes to step up. » explains Mick Doohan’s son, five-time 500cc3 motorcycle world champion.

« It’s extraordinarily satisfying to be the first member of the Alpine Academy to secure a seat with the team, and I am extremely grateful to all who supported me in making this dream a reality. It’s an exciting moment, a day of pride for my family, and I can’t wait to fully enjoy it and give it my all behind the scenes.

Jack Doohan is indeed the first driver from the Alpine Academy to move up to F1 as a full-time driver with Alpine, the training team. But he is not the first to be promoted to F1 since Oscar Piastri, victorious at McLaren a few weeks ago, was already a product of the Alpine Academy.

Oliver Oakes, the new team principal, also commented on the fact that he comes from the academy, promoting a successful pathway: « We are thrilled to promote Jack as a full-time driver starting from next season and to offer him the opportunity to demonstrate his talent and skills in Formula 1. Jack will become the first member of the Alpine Academy to secure a race seat within the team, which is extraordinarily satisfying for the team and its program for young drivers. »

« I personally worked with Jack in 2019 and I am fully aware of his raw talent and potential. He is a hard worker behind the scenes and his commitment is greatly appreciated by the whole team. With Pierre [Gasly] and him, we have a well-balanced crew, combining youth energy, experience, and pure speed. We are looking forward to working with Jack and Pierre to continue developing the car and advancing the team on the grid. »