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Former Alpine boss Marcin Budkowski was speaking on the latest episode of the RacingNews365 podcast.
Marcin Budkowski, former Alpine executive director, believes Alpine made a significant mistake by promoting Jack Doohan to a 2025 race seat too early. Doohan was named as Esteban Ocon’s replacement for 2025 during the ’24 summer break, although the driver market still had options like Valtteri Bottas and Kevin Magnussen available. Ultimately, Doohan raced in Abu Dhabi and the first six races of 2025, but was replaced by Franco Colapinto for a five-race evaluation. Colapinto now partners Pierre Gasly after Fernando Alonso’s departure. Budkowski suggests Alpine rushed the decision due to Alonso leaving for Aston Martin and missing out on promoting Oscar Piastri. He believes Alpine could have taken more time to evaluate options instead of confirming Doohan early.
