With Flavio Briatore already planting seeds of doubt over the Alpine future of Jack Doohan, the team has been warned that it will largely be a “one-car team” while he is on the grid.

That warning comes from F1 designer turned pundit Gary Anderson, who does not believe Alpine has an F1 rookie at the level of a Kimi Antonelli in their car.

Pierre Gasly to carry Alpine in F1 2025?

Rookie drivers have come back into fashion in Formula 1, with the grid for the upcoming F1 2025 campaign sporting plenty of fresh faces.

F2 2024 champion Gabriel Bortoleto is in at Sauber, Oliver Bearman at Haas, Doohan at Alpine, Isack Hadjar joins Racing Bulls and Kimi Antonelli steps up to Mercedes as their Lewis Hamilton replacement, while Red Bull has put their faith in Liam Lawson to partner Max Verstappen after just 11 grand prix starts with their B-team.

Doohan’s grand prix debut came early with the Aussie making his first start at the Abu Dhabi 2024 season finale, but while he was selected as the replacement for Esteban Ocon, stepping up from Alpine reserve to race driver, the team’s advisor Flavio Briatore has already hinted that Doohan could be axed in-season if he does not impress.

Alpine had been credited with an interest in another young talent, that being Argentine Franco Colapinto who impressed after joining the 2024 grid mid-season as the Williams replacement for Logan Sargeant, with PlanetF1.com having spotted Colapinto and his manager, Maria Catarineu of Bullet Sports Management, chatting with Briatore in the Qatar GP paddock.

And when asked by Le Parisien if Gasly and Doohan is the driver line-up which Alpine will start F1 2025 with, Briatore replied: “The only thing we can be sure of is death!

“We’ll start the year with Pierre and Jack, I can guarantee that. After that, we’ll see as the season progresses.

“I have to get the team in the right condition to get results and the driver is the one who has to conclude the work of nearly 1,000 people behind him. Everyone works for just two people.

“If there’s a driver who isn’t making progress, who isn’t bringing me results, I change him. You can’t be emotional in F1.”

The pressure is therefore on for Doohan to deliver, but Anderson does not expect that he will.

Instead, he envisages a “one-car team” at Alpine for much of the F1 2025 campaign with Gasly doing the heavy lifting.

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“The most encouraging thing was what underpinned Alpine’s impressive 2024 turnaround,” Anderson began in a piece for The Race.

“David Sanchez arrived as technical director in May, put a hold on updates and instead made changes to the development philosophy. That led directly to the big step forward with the major United States Grand Prix upgrade package.

“Apply that logic to the 2025 car and Alpine might be looking like a credible works team again (in its final year of being one).

“I fear Alpine will struggle as a one-car team for a fair amount of the season. Rookie Jack Doohan is OK, but I don’t think he is at the Antonelli level for example.

“Gasly and the car came of age at the end of 2024, so if they can continue that upward slope he will be scoring big points and knocking on the door of the podium occasionally – but I wouldn’t expect it every race weekend.”

As such, Anderson concluded by predicting a P5 finish for Alpine in the F1 2025 Constructors’ Championship, which would be a gain of one place on their 2024 efforts.

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