{"id":98900,"date":"2025-10-24T15:53:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T15:53:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/98900\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T15:53:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T15:53:12","slug":"flavio-briatore-must-apologise-to-jack-doohan-as-he-completes-private-tests-at-his-own-expense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/98900\/","title":{"rendered":"Flavio Briatore must apologise to Jack Doohan as he completes private tests ‘at his own expense’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\/ Follow us on Google Discover <\/a> <\/p>\n

Jack Doohan is in talks with some of Alpine\u2019s Formula 1 rivals as he tries to finalise his plans for 2026. Doohan was relegated back to the reserve driver role six races into his rookie season, with Franco Colapinto replacing him.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s already been reported that Doohan has spoken to Haas<\/a> about joining their driver pool for next year. A return to an Alpine race seat looks increasingly unrealistic, even if replacement Franco Colapinto hasn\u2019t been a clear upgrade.<\/p>\n

Now, The Race<\/a> reveal that Doohan has had \u2018conversations\u2019 with Cadillac, Williams and Sauber (soon to be Audi) too. Cadillac have already signed Colton Herta as a test driver, so that may be the least desirable option.<\/p>\n

Doohan<\/a> may never find his way back onto the grid after one of the most ruthless driver calls in the sport\u2019s recent history. But there\u2019s no indication that he\u2019s given up.<\/p>\n

Jack Doohan is having to pay for his own testing programme<\/p>\n

Though still nominally a reserve driver, Doohan\u2019s role has been limited. He\u2019s not testing in the simulator as much as would be expected, and he\u2019s fairly anonymous when he attends races in a backup capacity. <\/p>\n

Having fallen behind Paul Aron in the hierarchy, Doohan hasn\u2019t been \u2018engaged\u2019 in Alpine\u2019s TPC (testing previous cars) programme either. One test was \u2018called off\u2019, and the Australian has had to arrange outings in junior formula cars \u2018at his own expense\u2019 so he can stay sharp.<\/p>\n

Even though he\u2019s been \u2018completely sidelined\u2019, Doohan\u2019s preference is to \u2018fight for his place\u2019 at Alpine. But Colapinto and Aron are the only options to partner Pierre Gasly<\/a> next year.<\/p>\n

And looking ahead to 2026, Doohan has been told that Alpine<\/a> want to evaluate more young drivers. This has \u2018forced\u2019 him to consider a move away.<\/p>\n

Alpine boss Flavio Briatore owes Jack Doohan an apology<\/p>\n

Flavio Briatore<\/a> and Alpine arguably deserve criticism for how they\u2019ve treated Doohan. <\/p>\n

The consensus was that Doohan wasn\u2019t given enough time<\/a> to prove himself before losing his seat, with Martin Brundle suggesting he should have had until at least the summer break. But Colapinto\u2019s superior commercial backing may have made the difference.<\/p>\n

Doohan thought he\u2019d be back in the car<\/a> if the Argentine didn\u2019t deliver, but the anticipated rotational arrangement hasn\u2019t materialised.<\/p>\n

The biggest insult, though, is that Doohan is having to fund his own testing. He deserves to at least be given the opportunities afforded to most reserve drivers, and should be made to feel like a valued member of the team.<\/p>\n

It feels inevitable that the 22-year-old will leave in the near future, but before he does, perhaps Briatore should offer him an apology.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Follow us on Google Discover Jack Doohan is in talks with some of Alpine\u2019s Formula 1 rivals as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":98901,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[25629,72679,32012,111,139,69,213],"class_list":{"0":"post-98900","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-alpine","9":"tag-flavio-briatore","10":"tag-jack-doohan","11":"tag-new-zealand","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz","14":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98900\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}