A chorus of prominent international media outlets is reporting that Jack Doohan's time as an Alpine race driver has come to an end, with Franco Colapinto slated to take his place at the upcoming grand prix at Imola.
Respected publications including France's L'Equipe, Germany's Bild and RTL, the UK's BBC, Argentina's Ole, and the Netherlands' De Telegraaf are among those asserting that the Australian rookie has been informed he will be replaced by Colapinto for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
The speculation gained momentum before the Miami GP, when Horacio Marin, president of Colapinto's major sponsor, Argentine state-owned oil company YPF, inadvertently revealed in an off-air comment that the 21-year-old would race "in Imola."
Despite the growing speculation, Alpine advisor Flavio Briatore downplayed the rumours in Miami, stating, "He's our reserve driver. Reserve, reserve, reserve."
However, reports also surfaced that Briatore was negotiating at the time to significantly increase the financial backing from Colapinto's sponsors, potentially tripling the funds already supporting Alpine.
L'Equipe correspondent Frederic Ferret commented on Doohan's precarious position, saying, "The unfortunate Doohan, under pressure, never made himself untouchable.
"He accumulated racing incidents, like the one on Sunday, giving extra power to this new way of managing F1 drivers, like disposable handkerchiefs, without ever giving them time to acclimatise."
