Doohan to race for Alpine at Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Jack Doohan will partner Pierre Gasly at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Jack Doohan will replace Esteban Ocon at Alpine for the final grand prix of the season in Abu Dhabi this weekend.

The Australian has already been signed to race for Alpine alongside Ocon’s team-mate Pierre Gasly in 2025.

The move to draft in Doohan early comes as part of a deal to allow Ocon to drive for his new team Haas in the post-season test at Abu Dhabi on 10 December.

Ocon was contracted to Alpine until the end of the year, but releasing him a race early benefits all parties.

It gives Doohan, the son of five-time MotoGP champion Mick Doohan, a chance to gain experience of a grand prix weekend before next season’s first race, which is his home grand prix in Melbourne on 14-16 March.

And it allows Ocon to experience Haas’ team and car before heading into his winter preparations with the team.

Relations between Ocon and Alpine have soured this season, and the team made a decision not to continue with the Frenchman after he collided with Gasly on the first lap of the Monaco Grand Prix.

An Alpine statement said: "He will remain part of the team’s history (after) achieving the first win for Alpine in Formula 1. We wish Esteban the best for the future."

Ocon won the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix and scored two further podiums for Alpine in five years with the team - a third in Monaco in 2023 and second in Brazil this year - through its iterations as Renault and then from 2021 Alpine.