Alpine is reportedly considering a shock driver change ahead of this month’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola, with Australian driver Jack Doohan at risk of losing his seat.
The 22-year-old has endured a difficult start to his rookie season at Alpine, failing to finish higher than 14th across six races. He retired on the opening lap of Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix after making contact with Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson at the first corner, with his front left tyre going straight off the rim.
It comes after Doohan crashed out of the season opener in Melbourne, picked up penalties during both races in China and suffered a heavy crash in Japan.
Doohan is one of four drivers yet to score a point this year, along with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Lawson.
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“It was obviously good to get my first qualifying in front of my teammate and feeling confident in the car,” Doohan told reporters after the Miami Grand Prix.
“These are the small little wins that we unfortunately have to take from this weekend – but we’ll be carrying that into Imola.
“We have some sim work to do on the car and some sim work to do for the upcoming few races.
“It’s a good time to reset, although I feel like I haven’t really even done much driving.
“So I will be just shifting the focus straight to what’s to come.”
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According to The Race, Alpine is evaluating Doohan’s position and considering whether a driver change is needed before the upcoming European triple header, which gets underway on May 18.
There has been ongoing conjecture surrounding Doohan’s future at Alpine since the French team signed highly-rated Argentine Franco Colapinto from Williams as a reserve driver in January.
The speculation grew in volume last week when YPF chief executive Horacio Marin claimed during an off-air moment in a television interview that Colapinto would make his Alpine debut at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix . However, Alpine team principal Oliver Oakes brushed aside the remarks when quizzed by reporters in Miami.
“I’m sure there’s a lot of people in Argentina who’d like him in the car this Sunday,” Oakes said on Friday.
“We’ve been pretty open as a team that that’s just noise.
“Jack needs to continue doing a good job. But it’s natural that there’s always speculation there.”
He continued: “As it is today, Jack is our driver along with Pierre (Gasly).
“We always evaluate, but today, that is the case.”