F1 team scandal after signing TOO MANY drivers for new season

F1 Features

F1 team scandal after signing TOO MANY drivers for new season

Driver scandal rocked F1 for months

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Monday 11 November 2024 17:59 Updated: 20:39

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Formula 1's traditional silly season which tends to run throughout the summer looks set for an extension in the wake of reports surrounding Franco Colapinto's reported move to Alpine from Williams.

Alpine have already confirmed Pierre Gasly to run alongside rookie team-mate Jack Doohan, son of MotoGP legend Mick, in F1 2025, but Italian media claim team chief Flavio Briatore wants to break that agreement by drafting in Red Bull target Colapinto to replace Doohan.

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It sounds just as farcical as it is controversial, but of course is not official and it is understood that Alpine's drivers for next year remain as Gasly and Doohan. You though can have your say on who it should be with our GPFans poll at the bottom of this page.

However, we've been down this crazy road in F1 before - ten years ago in fact when Sauber ended up in a huge driver row after a previous management team were engulfed in a contract dispute with four drivers (and risking a fifth!) ahead of the 2015 campaign.

The situation came during a terrible 2014 when they were bogged down by woeful Ferrari power units under the new hybrid era rules and failed to score any points, as drivers Esteban Gutierrez and Adrian Sutil were looking towards their future.

Jack Doohan, pictured with father Mick, is set to race for Alpine in 2025

Williams' Franco Colapinto has attracted Red Bull and Alpine attention

Sauber had five drivers lined up for two seats

Sutil claimed he had a contract with Sauber for 2015, while Gutierrez was bemused to find the team still interested in his services despite the apparent abundance of drivers at their disposal.

The Mexican revealed last year to the F1 website how ahead of eventually penning a test deal with Ferrari instead, he had entered talks to extend his Sauber deal with team principal Monisha Kaltenborn.

"Anyway, we got to Austin and Monisha calls me for a meeting and was telling me, ‘you know, okay, so well, you know, Esteban, I would like to discuss our contract for next year, I'm interested to continue working with you. We’ll do it. Let's do it.’

"And I looked at her and I said, ‘Monisha, how are you able to offer me a drive for next year? If you already have signed four drivers?’ She looks at me: ‘Esteban that is not true.’ And I'm like, ‘Well, I know that [you have]. So, you know, the conversation here is not going to go anywhere because I know what is going on."

Aside from Sutil, the drivers in the running were test driver Giedo van der Garde and the actual eventual line-up of Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr.

After Ericsson and Nasr were confirmed late in 2014, Sutil was left out in the cold along with Van der Garde - or so it seemed.

Giedo van der Garde (left) claimed he had an F1 contract for 2015

Sauber and the 2015 multi-drivers mess

Incredibly, during the weekend of the first 2015 race in Australia, it was still uncertain who would actually race for Sauber after Van der Garde took legal action against the team over him not being their full-time driver.

Van der Garde eased matters slightly by announcing he would not race in Melbourne but it wasn't until three days after the grand prix won by Lewis Hamilton for Mercedes that the Dutchman confirmed he had reached a settlement with the team.

Sauber's headaches hadn't fully gone away though, as Sutil was also involved in legal disputes with them throughout 2015 over his claims of a contract not being fulfilled before another settlement was reached.

Why Sauber had signed so many drivers was a mystery but given their financial struggles at the time, it was likely related to securing crucial funding from drivers' sponsors against the fear of missing out on all of them.

The big takeaway though is while it seems incredible that Alpine could even consider being as cut-throat as to deny Doohan his F1 breakthrough and a rookie year - you really can never rule out anything at any team if a new driver comes into play.

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Written by

Dan Ripley - Global Editor

I've been a massive F1 fan since the mid 1990s and continue to study the history of the sport long before that. As an experienced motor sport reporter covering F1, MotoGP and the LeMans 24 Hour race, being part of GPFans has allowed me to work with a diverse team with all sorts of different backgrounds in watching the sport and given me a greater appreciation of F1.

View full biography

Red Bull Max Verstappen Alpine Liam Lawson Pierre Gasly Franco Colapinto