The fallout from Sunday's eventful Miami Grand Prix continues with Alpine driver Jack Doohan unceremoniously dropped and replaced by Franco Colapinto.
Doohan struggled in his first six races in F1 and a first-lap retirement at Miami Gardens sealed his fate. Colapinto is expected to take his seat for at least the next five races, starting at Imola on Sunday 18 May.
It had been widely speculated that Doohan's place was at risk after crashing out in the season opener at his home track in Australia and crashing again in practice ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.
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He made contact with Liam Lawson in Miami on Sunday, sustaining the puncture that forced him out of the race.
The 22-year-old is the second driver to be dropped this season after Lawson, who started the season as Max Verstappen's teammate at Red Bull, was demoted to their Racing Bulls sister team.
Doohan's sacking comes hot on the heels of the resignation of Alpine's Team Principal Oliver Oakes, who stepped down on Monday with rumours of the driver change gathering pace in a way Alpine's cars haven't so far this season. It was confirmed on Wednesday morning and Pierre Gasly has a new teammate.
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Colapinto was the overwhelming favourite to take over in the event of a change and Alpine's reserve driver will now take the team's second seat.
The 21-year-old impressed after taking over Logan Sargeant's drive at Williams last season and was linked with a move to Red Bull before Lawson was snapped up instead.
Alpine reportedly parted with a cool €10 million fee to tempt Williams to let Colapinto join the team to put pressure on rookie Doohan and their back-up plan is now in play.
Colapinto is back on the grid and expressed his delight on X, formerly Twitter, posting: "The wait was long! HAPPY! We're back."
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Flavio Briatore, the Alpine executive advisor who has stepped in as Team Principal following Oakes' resignation, explained the move.
"Having reviewed the opening races of the season, we have come to the decision to put Franco in the car alongside Pierre for the next five races," said the F1 stalwart.
"With the field being so closely matched this year, and with a competitive car, which the team has drastically improved in the past 12 months, we are in a position where we see the need to rotate our line-up.
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"We also know the 2026 season will be an important one for the team and having a complete and fair assessment of the drivers this season is the right thing to do in order to maximise our ambitions next year.
"We continue to support Jack at the team, as he has acted in a very professional manner in his role as a race driver so far this season."
Briatore confirmed that the team will review its options after Colapinto has raced with Gasly for the next five Grands Prix.
Chris Nee