Damon Hill drops his verdict on reports of Alpine firing Jack Doohan for Franco Colapinto

Former F1 World Champion Damon Hill gave a brutal verdict on Alpine reportedly firing Jack Doohan for Franco Colapinto for the remainder of the 2025 season. The French team has made a disappointing start to 2025 after ending last year on a high and clinching P6 in the Constructors' championship out of nowhere.

After letting Esteban Ocon go ahead of the season finale in Abu Dhabi, it allowed them to give their academy driver Doohan a chance. Although he was announced as their driver for 2025, alongside Pierre Gasly, many reports that emerged at the start of the season suggested that he only had a contract for six races.

These rumors gained further fuel when Alpine hired former Williams F1 driver Franco Colapinto to their roster of reserve drivers. However, the Enstone-based outfit denied the rumors and claimed that the Aussie had a contract with them.

After six races, as per BBC, Jack Doohan was told that Alpine would not need his services from Imola GP onwards and would replace him with Franco Colapinto. Although the 22-year-old has shown a serious turn of pace in some of the races alongside his much-experienced teammate, he has failed to build on that and has had a few too many crashes.

On X, Damon Hill had a short reaction to the news and said:

"Looks like some drivers need better contracts!"

Although there has been no official confirmation from Alpine about the same thus far, team boss Oliver Oakes has denied the reports at the Miami Grand Prix.

Alpine team boss comments on Jack Doohan-Franco Colapinto swap

Alpine team boss Oliver Oakes claimed that even though some Argentine sponsors believed that Franco Colapinto would be in the A525 in Imola, the team would stick with Jack Doohan.

In the team principal's press conference, the Brit reflected on a potential swap and said:

“I saw it, like everyone else. I think it was a sponsor from Argentina off-camera giving his view on Franco, when he’s going to be in the car. I’m sure there’s a lot of people in Argentina who’d like him in the car this Sunday. 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. Yeah, as it is today, Jack is our driver along with Pierre [Gasly]. We’ve been pretty clear on that. We always evaluate, but yeah – today, that is the case.”

Apart from impressing the French team in his short stint with Williams F1 at the end of last year alongside Alex Albon, Colapinto would bring a host of sponsors from Argentina that could also play a factor in securing him a seat for Imola.