Colapinto replaces Doohan at Alpine

Franco Colapinto raced for Williams in nine grands prix last year

Argentine Franco Colapinto will drive for Alpine for the next five grands prix, replacing Jack Doohan.

The team said in a statement that Colapinto, who Alpine signed from Williams over the winter, would drive alongside Pierre Gasly from the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix at Imola on 16-18 May.

There will then be a "new evaluation before the British Grand Prix", which is on 4-6 July.

Doohan has driven for Alpine since last year's season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and has yet to score a point.

The decision for Colapinto to replace Doohan has been expected since last weekend's Miami Grand Prix, but the plan to effectively give the 21-year-old five races to prove himself against Doohan's performances was not.

Alpine executive adviser Flavio Briatore said in a statement: "Having reviewed the opening races of the season, we have come to the decision to put Franco in the car alongside Pierre for the next five races.

"With the field being so closely matched this year, and with a competitive car, which the team has drastically improved in the past 12 months, we are in a position where we see the need to rotate our line-up.

"We also know the 2026 season will be an important one for the team and having a complete and fair assessment of the drivers this season is the right thing to do in order to maximise our ambitions next year. "

The statement said that Doohan remained "an integral part of the team" and would be first-choice reserve driver during this period.

The team also have Estonian Paul Aron on their books.

Briatore added: "We continue to support Jack at the team, as he has acted in a very professional manner in his role as a race driver so far this season.

"The next five races will give us an opportunity to try something different and after this time period we will assess our options."

Colapinto said he would "work hard" and that the three races on consecutive weekends at Imola, Monaco and Barcelona would "no doubt be intense and a big challenge for everyone".

He added: "I will do my best to get up to speed quickly and give it my all to deliver the best possible results alongside Pierre."

Doohan, the son of five-time MotoGP champion Mick Doohan, said: "Obviously, this latest chapter is a tough one for me to take because, as a professional driver, naturally I want to be racing.

"That said, I appreciate the team's trust and commitment. We have long-term goals as a team to achieve and I will continue to give my maximum efforts in any way I can to help achieve those.

"For now, I will keep my head down, keep working hard, watch with interest the next five races and keep chasing my own personal goals."

The announcement came only 12 hours after the team announced that team principal Oliver Oakes had resigned. Briatore, the real authority all along, will assume his responsibilities.

What's going on at Alpine?

This is the latest upheaval at a team that have become notorious for it in recent years.

The Colapinto decision is easy to explain - he brings money from Latin American sponsors, which Briatore wants to access. Doohan always looked like a driver on borrowed time as a result. And unless Colapinto is embarrassing in the next five races, he will be expected to stay on longer.

The difficulties at Alpine are a much wider issue.

Renault has twice set five-year targets to become competitive since it returned to F1 as a works effort in 2016, but Alpine have made little progress - in fact, they have gone backwards in the past couple of years.

Briatore was brought in by Renault chief executive officer Luca de Meo last summer to arrest this slide.

He appointed Oakes as team principal, the latest in a series of changes at the top of Alpine in recent years. But everyone in F1 knew the Briton was not only nothing like Briatore's first choice for the role, but also only a figurehead. The real power lay with Briatore.

Briatore was a controversial appointment - he had not had an active role in F1 since he was banned from the sport for fixing the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix in the notorious 'crashgate' saga.

This was when Renault driver Nelson Piquet deliberately crashed in the inaugural Singapore race to boost the chances of his team-mate Fernando Alonso.

There were suspicions at the time, but the story became public after Piquet was sacked by Briatore midway through 2009 and his father, the three-time champion of the same name, spoke out.

Briatore and technical director Pat Symonds were both banned from F1, although Briatore succeeded in having his ban overturned by a French court.

Symonds has been rehabilitated and has since had roles with Williams and F1 itself and is now working for the nascent Cadillac team, which makes its debut next year.

Briatore has been charged by De Meo with making Alpine work again - he was in charge of the team when they won titles as Benetton in 1994-95 and Renault in 2005-06.

Since Briatore took charge, Renault has decided to end its long-running F1 engine programme, which has been in the sport almost continuously since 1977.

There were strikes at the engine base at Viry-Chatillon near Paris last year as a result, but the decision went ahead, and Alpine will use Mercedes customer engines next year.

The team went through something of a revival last year after Briatore took charge, climbing to sixth in the constructors' championship by the end of the year after being close to the bottom.

But this year has not started well. Alpine are ninth of 10 teams in the standings after six races, with only seven points.

The car is on average the seventh fastest, and Briatore's patience with executive technical director David Sanchez, who joined the team last May, also appears to be wearing thin.