Given the fact that he was a rookie driver with a tricky start to the season with tracks he had never driven on before and a Sprint race, Alpine’s decision to demote Jack Doohan back to reverse driver was seen as harsh. 

The Australian had been walking a tightrope ever since Franco Colapinto was drafted in as a reserve driver from Williams during the winter, and after the Miami Grand Prix, Doohan was booted out and Colapinto handed the seat from Imola. 

Initially, it was only for a five-race test, with Flavio Briatore telling the Argentine to “drive fast, score points and don’t crash.”

Well, he hasn’t scored points, has crashed, but has he driven fast? How does Colapinto stack up against Doohan and the ever-present team leader, Pierre Gasly?

To keep the matter fair, we have taken the results from the first six races each driver competed in – so Australia to Miami for Doohan and then Imola to Britain for Colapinto. 

We have calculated their average qualifying deficits to Gasly, average grid positions, head-to-heads and then done the same for the race and the Sprints. 

The qualifying times are made up of the outright fastest times set by each driver and Gasly in qualifying. 

Drivers
Average gap
Average position
Head-to-head (overall)

Jack Doohan

+0.516s

15.3

5-1

Franco Colapinto

+0.611s

16.1

5-1

Drivers
Average position
Head-to-head (overall)
Head-to-head without DNF, DSQ, DNS

Jack Doohan

14.7

4-2

2-0

Franco Colapinto

14.4

4-2

3-2

Across the two drivers, the closest either has come to a point was 13th for Doohan in China and a pair of them for Colapinto in Monaco and Canada.

Doohan slightly has the edge over Colapinto in qualifying, and is, on average, 0.095s closer to Gasly than Colapinto, earning him an average grid of 15.3, which plays 16.1. 

However, Colapinto nudges ahead in race finishes, taking an average finish of 14.4 to Doohan’s 14.7. 

Driver
Qualifying
Sprint

Doohan – China

-0.065s – Doohan P16, Gasly P17

0-1 – Doohan P20, Gasly P12

Colapinto – Belgium

+1.683s – Colapinto P19 vs Gasly P10

0-0 – Gasly DNF, Colapinto P19

Sprint races and overall

Again, to keep matters fair, we are only going to count one Sprint race per driver, so this is China for Doohan and Belgium for Colapinto. 

Doohan actually out-qualified Gasly in Shanghai by just 0.065s before going on to be beaten in the Sprint itself, whilst Gasly demolished Colapinto in Spa Sprint qualifying, but as he failed to finish the race itself, a 0-0 is registered in the head-to-head for the ‘race’.

Overall, it is clear that Doohan’s edge was over one lap in qualifying, with a superior record to Colapinto, who comes back in the races.

However, it must be said that both drivers have been culpable for big crashes, including Doohan in Japan practice after keeping the DRS open through Turn 1, and then Colapinto at Imola on his debut in qualifying. 

The difference between the two is negligible, but it appears that Doohan’s full-time career is over, with Colapinto’s own future uncertain. 

© XPBimages

© XPBimages