As Alpine’s reserve driver, Doohan simultaneously competes in the F2 Championship, which serves as the primary feeder series to Formula 1, while supporting Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly at Alpine.

Doohan, a former Red Bull Junior Team driver, was considered a strong title contender this season driving for the Virtuosi team. 

However, his campaign has been plagued by struggles, and he currently sits in 12th place in the championship standings, trailing leader Frederik Vesti by a significant 70-point margin. 

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Despite this setback, signs of improvement have emerged, with Doohan showcasing his pace in the recent races in Spain, securing a fifth and a sixth-place finish at Catalunya.

Szafnauer remains steadfast in his belief in Doohan’s abilities and asserts that the young driver is now adapting more effectively to his car. 

“Jack, at the beginning, he struggled a bit with his car,” Szafnauer explained in an interview with Speedcafe.

“He wasn’t comfortable in the car, and as of late, that’s changed, and it shows in his competitiveness.”

Recognised as a highly promising talent in the world of motorsport, Doohan’s acquisition by Alpine as their reserve driver at the start of 2023 underscored his potential. 

In the previous season, he achieved a commendable sixth-place finish in the championship, securing three victories out of 28 races. 

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Although Doohan has yet to rediscover the same level of form, Szafnauer continues to support him and envisions a future in Formula 1.

“We continue to prepare him for Formula 1, and he’s also doing our program of running a two-year-old Formula 1 car,” Szafnauer disclosed. 

“He’s a good racing driver and works really hard, [he’s] intelligent, and he’s got a future ahead of him.”

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Doohan’s promotion was the most logical move for Alpine to make, as the Australian is clearly the most talented and race ready driver in the Alpine academy.

The team will be hoping that Doohan’s progress in the reserve driver role serves him well for the future, as he looks to become the first Alpine academy driver to make the step up into a race seat with the team.

Last season’s reserve driver Oscar Piastri was in line to replace Fernando Alonso this season but controversially rejected the chance to drive for the team in favour of a move to replace Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren.

Jack Doohan has now been given a public show of support by Esteban Ocon, with the Frenchman claiming that there was no better candidate to be Alpine’s reserve driver this year.

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“I think we obviously can’t be in a better place with having Jack,” he told Speedcadfe.com.

“He’s obviously the most experienced guy in the academy, which makes sense for the team to have him as reserve.

“He’s been performing super well in Formula 2 last year and he’s driven the [F1] car quite a bit in the past and has been with the team quite a lot, on [the] simulator.

“I’m hoping we won’t need him but for the team [it] is probably a very good thing.”

READ: Sky Sports pundit suggests Aston Martin have jumped Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes

Alpine will be hoping that their pre-season results do not reflect their 2023 season as a whole, as the team struggled tremendously compared to their rivals.

The French outfit looked to be one of the slowest teams on the grid during pre-season testing in Bahrain, however this could be down to the types of tests they were running with regards to tyre compounds and fuel loads.

With Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon in the A523, Alpine have a driver pairing more than capable of standing on the podium this season, should they be given a competitive car.

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After winning the 2021 Formula 2 World Championship, Piastri found himself filling the role of reserve driver at Alpine, with the Australian having spent a lot of time in the simulator.

Weirdly, he was never given the opportunity to test Alpine’s 2022 car, meaning he had little understanding or experience of the new aerodynamic era of the sport.

His immense talent was arguably being wasted, with Alpine having sorted a seat at Williams for Piastri for 2023, with Szafnauer having been keen on the young driver developing at a lower side.

READ: Nico Hulkenberg comments on relationship with Kevin Magnussen after tensions

This clearly isn’t what Piastri wanted, with the Aussie having secretly signed a deal with McLaren to replace Daniel Ricciardo.

Piastri’s deal with McLaren came to light when he publicly rejected Fernando Alonso’s seat, after Alpine announced that he’d be racing alongside Esteban Ocon in 2023.

It was a very odd situation, with Alpine having announced Piastri as part of their 2023 driver line-up despite the driver having not accepted, resulting in him leaving the team embarrassed.

Piastri revealed on social media after Alpine’s announcement that he hadn’t agreed to race for the team and wouldn’t be doing so either, something which made Szafnauer furious.

The Romanian-American was convinced that the 21-year-old was contracted to race for them, resulting in a trip to the FIA’s Contract Recognition Board (CRB).

The CRB ultimately determined that Piastri wasn’t contracted to Alpine for 2023 and was free to move, resulting in his switch.

Following his move, Szafnauer hasn’t been afraid to take digs at their former reserve driver, who they spent millions on developing.

With Piastri gone, F2 driver and Alpine Academy member Jack Doohan has stepped up to fill the vacant reserve role, with Szafnauer clearly having a lot of faith in the driver’s desire to be with the team.

“You’ve got to, number one, have an iron-clad contract, but number two [is] just make the team attractive,” Szafnauer told Fox Sports in Australia.

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“I think we are, which is why Jack wants to be a part of our team.

“We just have to get more competitive, work hard, add performance to the car and do well on track.

“I wish Oscar good luck, but I think it’s for us to prove that he made the wrong choice.”

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After Haas confirmed that Nico Hulkenberg will be replacing Mick Schumacher for next year, Williams now have the only unconfirmed seat, with it not yet been one hundred per cent certain who will partner Alex Albon in 2023.

Nicholas Latifi will be departing the team after three seasons in F1, that much is for certain, but his probable replacement Logan Sargeant will not know if he will be able to take Williams up on their offer of a 2023 race seat until the end of the F2 season.

Drivers require a certain amount of super licence points to be able to race in Formula 1, and Sargeant is currently a little bit short of the required points total.

READ: Fernando Alonso feels no need to apologise to Esteban Ocon

The American has had two main methods of upping his points balance, through driving in free practice session, which he has done in multiple races recently, and through his finishing position in the F2 championship.

Should the 21-year-old fail to finish in the required position in the F2 standings, then Williams will be forced to look elsewhere in the driver market, after efforts to sign Oscar Piastri, Daniel Ricciardo and Nyck de Vries have all been unsuccessful.

De Vries stood in for the ill Alex Albon in Monza, but after his point scoring finish stunned the paddock the Dutchman was quickly snapped up by AlphaTauri.

One driver who is yet to be really considered as an option for the 2023 race seat at Williams is young Jack Doohan, who is currently a part of the Alpine set up.

Alpine had originally planned to send Oscar Piastri on loan to Williams with the plan of him replacing Fernando Alonso in the future, but the Spaniards unexpected move to Aston Martin forced them to try and skip the Williams loan.

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The Australian then entered a legal battle with his team as he had actually already signed a contract with McLaren behind closed doors, leading to a Pierre Gasly domino effect as Alpine picked their partner for Esteban Ocon.

It has now been suggested that as Alpine were so willing to loan Williams their academy driver in Piastri for a season, what would prevent them from exploring a similar avenue with Doohan.

Williams do not seem to have many options should their preferred choice of Sargeant fail to qualify for a race seat, so fans should keep their eyes on young Jack Doohan and the Australian’s battle for P4 in the F2 championship.

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The current Alpine reserve driver is part of a very exclusive club, of drivers who claimed the Formula 3 and Formula 2 World Championships in back-to-back seasons.

Piastri claimed F3 glory in 2020 before backing that up in F2 the following year, before sitting on the side-lines at Enstone this season.

Before the McLaren deal was announced, it was expected that the 21-year-old would be in a full-time seat in 2023, with Alpine having agreed a multi-year loan with Williams.

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This would’ve seen Piastri switch to the Grove-based team until Fernando Alonso decided to retire, as it was looking likely that the 41-year-old was going to remain at the French side.

As it turned out, Alonso and Piastri had different ideas, with it all kicking-off after the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Alonso announced that he’d be moving to Aston Martin in 2023 to replace Sebastian Vettel, leaving a seat open for Piastri.

The fourth-placed team then announced that the Aussie would be promoted to a full-time seat in 2023; however, this wasn’t what Piastri had planned.

Piastri released a statement of his own, insisting he hadn’t signed a deal to race for Alpine and crucially wouldn’t be doing so either.

It then turned out that he didn’t sign for Alpine after a move to McLaren had been sealed, replacing fellow Australian Daniel Ricciardo.

Things turned incredibly ugly over the whole saga, as Alpine were adamant that Piastri was contracted to race for them, which resulted in Alpine and McLaren appearing in front of the FIA’s Contract Recognition Board.

In-front of the board, it was discovered that Piastri had no contract with Alpine, with his deal with McLaren being the only binding deal he had to keep to.

As a result, Alpine announced that they were considering releasing Piastri from his reserve role early; however, it is now looking like they’re going to keep hold of him until the end of the season.

Obviously, though, Piastri isn’t going to be used in FP1 sessions for Alpine, with F2 driver Jack Doohan set to be used instead, starting this weekend at the Mexican Grand Prix.

It does put Piastri at a disadvantage going into 2023 already, given how his limited running in an F1 car has been further restricted following his fallout with Alpine.

Despite it all, he’s very excited for what the future holds, especially as the papaya-side “really wanted me”.

“A massive draw card of McLaren was you know they really, really wanted me, they wanted to invest in youth,” said Piastri on the PitStop podcast.

“You know, they’ve shown that through their previous years with people like Lando [Norris], like Lewis [Hamilton] so, you know, I think it’s sort of been in the team’s spirit and mentality, but I think it’s nice to have two young guys in there that can hopefully, you know, build the future and move forward with McLaren.”

McLaren aren’t expecting to get the services of Piastri until 2023, despite there having been some hope that they’d be able to get him before the close of the season.

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Whilst the Woking-based side weren’t planning on using him in FP1, they were at least hoping to get him used to the team’s set-up.

“They [Alpine] are still planning to keep going with the programme, as far as I understand, with Oscar until the end of the season,” said team boss Andreas Seidl.

“Therefore, there’s no news really.”

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Alpine started the season with Ocon and Fernando Alonso as their main drivers, and Oscar Piastri as a reserve, but the Spaniard was out of contract at the end of the season.

Team principal, Otmar Szafnauer, could not decide whether he wanted Alonso or Piastri to be their driver of choice going forward, and both became tired of the situation.

Alonso opted to join Aston Martin in place of the retiring Aston Martin, while the Australian made a deal with Zak Brown to join McLaren, replacing the struggling Daniel Ricciardo.

READ: Lewis Hamilton calls for ex-McLaren driver to be given 2023 F1 seat

Thus far, Alpine have not been able to secure a replacement, but they have a list of 14 drivers who could take Alonso’s place.

Ocon has made it clear that he wants Haas’ Mick Schumacher alongside him in 2023, and the German has not yet secured a deal with Guenther Steiner to stay on board beyond the end of this year.

De Vries made an extremely impressive stand-in appearance in place of Alex Albon with Williams in Monza, so he too is being considered, although he has also been holding talks with Red Bull about a seat with AlphaTauri.

Were the Red Bull junior team to acquire him, it would likely be in place of Pierre Gasly, who is under contract until the end of 2023.

If Alpine do go for the 26-year-old, de Vries would likely be Dr Helmut Marko’s driver of choice to slot in alongside Yuki Tsunoda.

Jack Doohan has impressed in Formula 2 this year, and he is part of the Alpine driver academy, while Antonio Giovinazzi had previously been linked with a move to Haas in place of Schumacher.

READ: Nyck de Vries meets with Helmut Marko to discuss 2023 Red Bull seat

That signature may yet transpire for the Italian, but he is being given a run-out by Alpine to assess his suitability.

Giovinazzi previously raced for Alfa Romeo between 2019 and 2021, and he took a year out to compete in Formula E with Penske.

Alpine will run their programme in Budapest and, if they have not yet signed anyone by the end of the year, they will have a test in Abu Dhabi after the season finale to further scout out talent.

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Alpine came into the 2022 season with Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon as their first-team drivers, while F2 champion, Oscar Piastri, has been serving as their reserve.

Alonso, at 41 years of age, was offered a one-plus-one deal so that team principal, Otmar Szafnauer, could review him at the end of next year before continuing their partnership.

The Romanian-American also had Piastri’s future to think about, and it was possible that the Australian might not have been in the Alpine seat until the beginning of 2025.

READ: Alpine warned about signing Pierre Gasly but told to ‘suck it up’

Alpine were also struggling to make headway loaning the 21-year-old out, and they needed to keep him as part of their system in case Alonso departed.

In the end, both drivers felt like they were being played, so Alonso decided to sign with Aston Martin, and Piastri headed to Woking to agree a deal with McLaren.

Alpine took the case to the contract recognition board (CRB) to protest the Aussie’s signature with Zak Brown’s team, but the deal Piastri signed was deemed to be legal.

Having initially had three drivers, Alpine have ended up only with Esteban Ocon, so they need to sign another driver to partner the 25-year-old.

One of their options is Daniel Ricciardo, whom Piastri will be replacing, but it is looking increasingly likely that they will pursue AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly.

The Frenchman is contracted to Red Bull until the end of next year though, so Alpine would need to buy him out of it, and since there is no clause, the Austrian side hold all the cards in those negotiations.

However, Doohan, the son of motorcycle legend Mick, has won four races in F2 this year, and he is part of the Alpine junior academy.

In 2017, Renault signed Carlos Sainz on loan from Red Bull, and the Spaniard too came with a racing background due to the legendary career of rally driver and father, Carlos Sainz Sr.

The professional “mindset,” as well as the fact that Alpine will want to avoid a repeat of the mess they have found themselves in this year, leads Villeneuve to opine that Doohan would be a good fit for the Enstone squad in 2023.

“Why not take a chance with Doohan? Instead of spending a year preparing him like they did with Piastri, just put him in the deep end and see what happens,” he told F1 TV.

“Doohan comes with a good background – like Sainz, that really gets the right mindset to be at the top level and survive under pressure.”

Due to the frosty relationship between Gasly and Ocon, and the money required to obtain the 26-year-old, Villeneuve feels there is little point in trying to sign the race winner. 

“That’s a strange one, they already have a French driver,” he explained.

READ: Alpine should forget about Pierre Gasly and sign this 27-year-old racer

“The two don’t get along, so don’t put them together, and he’s under contract and you have to move mountains to get him, so it doesn’t make sense. 

“And Gasly hasn’t had a very good season in general.”

The 51-year-old also suggested that Ricciardo, whom Piastri will be replacing next season, is not on Szafnauer’s list of priorities.

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