Peter Johnson – Journalism

Alpine have confirmed that reserve driver Jack Doohan will replace Esteban Ocon at the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this weekend.

Doohan, 21, son of motorcycle racing World Champion Mick, was confirmed back in August to have a full-time drive with the team in 2025.

Meanwhile, Ocon will move to Haas in advance of the 2025 season, following an announcement in July. The early release from his Alpine contract means he will also be free to take part in the post-season test in Abu Dhabi for his new team.

The 28-year-old Frenchman joined the Enstone-based team under its previous guise as Renault in 2020, following full-time roles at Manor and Force India and a year as Mercedes’ reserve driver in 2019.

In total, he made 106 starts for the team and raced at all 89 Grand Prix since its rebrand as Alpine at the beginning of the 2021 season.

The highlight of his Alpine career came at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix when he claimed both his and his team’s first and to date only victory in Formula 1.

Other outstanding results included a second-placed finish for the then-Renault team at the 2020 Sakhir GP, a result he equalled for Alpine at the 2024 Brazilian Grand Prix. He also scored a famous third-placed finish at the 2023 Monaco Grand Prix.

His final race for the team ended with retirement, as a lap one, turn one collision with Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg and Williams’ Franco Colapinto eliminated him from yesterday’s Qatar Grand Prix.

He will partner 19-year-old Briton Oliver Bearman at Haas in 2025.

Doohan, meanwhile, will make his Grand Prix debut several months earlier than expected, as he slots in alongside new teammate Pierre Gasly in Abu Dhabi.

The young Australian has been Alpine’s reserve driver since the beginning of 2023, having joined the team’s academy in 2022. He had previously spent four years on the books of Red Bull.

Doohan’s impressive record in junior racing series included second-placed finishes in the 2019-20 F3 Asian Championship and the 2021 Formula 3 season, while he finished sixth and third in his two full seasons in Formula 2, in 2022 and 2023 respectively.

His arrival on the grid completes a hat-trick of drivers from Down Under, alongside fellow Aussie Oscar Piastri and New Zealand’s Liam Lawson at RB.

Image credit: Liauzh