Lawson, Ocon say Doohan proved he deserved his place in F1

Jack Doohan showed enough in his junior career and short time with Alpine to deserve a place on the Formula 1 grid, according to Liam Lawson and Esteban Ocon.

Alpine dropped Doohan after just six races of the season in order to put Franco Colapinto in the car, with the Argentinian driver having impressed for Williams last year and also attracting significant commercial interest. Doohan debuted in the final race of 2024, meaning he had just seven rounds to prove himself, and ahead of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix he received the backing of Lawson.

“Yeah, I spoke to Jack,” said Lawson (pictured above in his RB battling Doohan earlier this season). “Obviously for him, it’s very tough. I think he showed enough to stay in Formula 1, for sure. But also, it’s hard -- how can you be expected in five races to show everything you have, especially in your rookie season? Unfortunately, it’s very cutthroat.

“I think he did enough -- even before F1, he did enough to deserve to be there. And he’s done enough in F1 to deserve to come back. But with 20 seats, it’s very, very tough. Every team makes their own decisions, so there’s not really much more to say.”

Former Alpine driver Ocon also believes Doohan has proven himself to have the talent to earn another shot in F1 in future.

“Unfortunately, not really any surprise from some of the decisions that have been taken recently by the team,” Ocon said. “I don’t have much to say. Obviously, sad for Jack. I’m sure he’ll be back in F1 at some point. He showed some really strong moments this year where he qualified super well and he’s also been super quick in the car, which was good to see.

“On the other hand, Franco also deserves to be in F1. Last year he showed some great things with the Williams car. Unfortunately, there are not enough cars on the grid to fit all the talents that are out there.”

With Colapinto being officially given just five races before Alpine will carry out another driver evaluation, championship leader Oscar Piastri similarly pointed out how little opportunity both drivers are getting to find their feet.

“It’s a tough situation all round,” Piastri said. “Obviously it was a short time in F1 for Jack. Franco is coming in with these five races, which is also not an easy circumstance to come back into F1. Yeah, I think it’s a tough situation. For Jack, he can be proud of what he’s achieved. He still became an F1 driver, and no one can take that away from him. It’s a difficult situation.”