Esteban Ocon Replaced by Jack Doohan

Esteban Ocon has been released by Alpine and Jack Doohan will step in for him in the final Grand Prix of the season and make his F1 debut. He was released so that he could drive for Haas in the Abu Dhabi post-season testing.

Doohan, Alpine’s reserve driver this year, was promoted to the full-time F1 seat earlier this season after news of Esteban Ocon’s leaving the team for Haas in 2025. He will look to impress in his debut and show Alpine they have made the right choice by going with the Australian.

Ocon has had his struggles this year after keeping pace with teammate Pierre Gasly to start the season. He hadn’t scored points for the first 6 races after the summer break but made a massive contribution to himself and Alpine by finishing P2 in Brazil, a whopping 18 of the 23 points he scored in 2024. He then followed that up with a P17 in Vegas and a DNF in Qatar.

Overall it was a mixed bag for the veteran driver, often outside the points and struggling to stay towards the top of the midfield but also having one of the highest highs of the season. He now goes to Haas where he will drive alongside new teammate Oliver Bearman, who has subbed in for both Ferrari and Haas this season for the likes of Carlos Sainz and Kevin Magnussen respectively. Bearman scored points in both races and currently sits P18 in the F1 drivers standings out of 23 drivers who have raced this season (a feat since, again, he’s raced only twice!).

He leaves Alpine as the only driver to achieve a race win with the team.

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