Ricciardo COMEBACK and Ferrari chaos as brutal F1 axe looms… read more
The Formula 1 season seems to be expanding every year, and the same can be said for the ‘silly season’, which covers all the driver transfer gossip. Barely into 2025, rumors are circulating about a driver change at Alpine. Jack Doohan, son of motorcycle legend Mick Doohan, will be taking part in his rookie season after his debut at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. However, there is already drama brewing, with rumors suggesting that Alpine wants Franco Colapinto to replace Doohan.
Colapinto was announced as the team’s reserve driver after moving from Williams, and eyebrows were raised when he was not given the race seat. While Alpine is committed to running Pierre Gasly and Doohan, pressure is already mounting on the Australian to deliver, with little room for error. This is not an uncommon scenario in F1, where drivers can be replaced after less than a year in the cockpit.
One example of this is Daniel Ricciardo, who replaced Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri in 2023. De Vries was the worst performer of the four race drivers on the team’s books at the time, and Ricciardo, who had joined as a reserve driver after a miserable McLaren tenure, was seen as a better option. De Vries failed to score points in any of his first 10 races and was eventually axed after the British Grand Prix.
Another example is Alex Albon, who replaced Pierre Gasly at Red Bull in 2019. Gasly was promoted to the team after Daniel Ricciardo left, but he struggled to match the performance of his teammate Max Verstappen. Despite Christian Horner’s efforts to coax a performance out of Gasly, he was eventually replaced by Albon ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix.
In 2009, Ferrari axed Luca Badoer after just two races, replacing him with Giancarlo Fisichella. Badoer struggled enormously in the Ferrari, finishing well outside the points, and Fisichella, who had impressed with a pole position and second-place finish at Spa, was seen as a better option.
In 2006, Robert Kubica replaced Jacques Villeneuve at BMW-Sauber. Villeneuve failed to impress, and Kubica, who had been poached from Renault, was seen as a better option. Villeneuve’s crash at the German Grand Prix was the final straw, and Kubica was promoted to the race seat.
Finally, in 1994, Nigel Mansell replaced David Coulthard at Williams. Coulthard had made his F1 debut in tough circumstances, replacing Ayrton Senna after his tragic death. However, Mansell, who was a big name in F1 at the time, was seen as a better option, and Coulthard was forced to hand over his seat for the final three grands prix of the season.
These examples illustrate the cutthroat nature of F1, where drivers can be replaced quickly if they fail to deliver. The pressure is always on, and drivers must perform at their best to stay in the sport.
