F1 star issues RETURN update as team face embarrassing U-turn

Alpine reserve driver Jack Doohan has offered an update to his fans about his racing future, suggesting that he is preparing for a return to the grid.

The Australian was axed from Alpine just six races into his rookie season in the sport, which was seen as an extremely harsh move from Alpine executive advisor Flavio Briatore.

Doohan was replaced by Franco Colapinto for what was originally described as a five-race spell by Briatore, but Colapinto has just completed his eighth race weekend alongside Pierre Gasly at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

However, in those eight race weekends, Colapinto has failed to score a single point, and his position with the Enstone-based outfit has itself been called into question.

Now, as F1 heads into its summer break, Doohan appears ready to continue his rookie season in F1, taking to social media to provide his fans with an update on how his fitness is progressing.

"Hey guys, it's Jack here. It's been a while," he said in a post on Instagram. "I just wanted to say a big special thank you to all my supporters and sponsors for sticking with me through this time.

"I've been preparing and pushing harder than ever to be back doing what I love."

Alpine's driver merry-go-round

Any potential move back to Doohan would be seen as an embarrassing u-turn for the team who are currently sat rock bottom of the constructors' championship.

However, at the time of Doohan's demotion, Briatore did state that the move would be one of a number of driver lineup swaps throughout the 2025 season, as the team attempt to nail down a pairing for the crucial upcoming 2026 season.

While Colapinto has been the subject of replacement rumours, most of those have come in the shape of Mercedes reserve driver Valtteri Bottas, who is waiting in the wings for a full-time return to the sport, rather than a Doohan u-turn.

But the 22-year-old Australian is clearly not done with F1 just yet.

Before his F1 debut in Abu Dhabi last year, Doohan had been reserve driver with Alpine for the 2023 and 2024 seasons.

He was strongly considered for a seat within the team following the departure of Fernando Alonso at the end of 2022, but the team instead went for experience through Gasly.

When he was finally promoted into that full-time seat for 2025, it would have been a bitter blow to find out that it had lasted for just six races, but Doohan will be hoping he once again gets the chance to prove himself later this year.

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