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Jack Doohan is set for an early F1 debut for Alpine at next week’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after Esteban Ocon crashed on the first lap of an incident-filled race in Qatar and retired immediately.
Max Verstappen, who was a week away from wrapping up the championship, won his ninth race of the season while McLaren missed the chance to secure the constructors’ title.
That battle will now continue to the UAE finale — where Doohan will join the grid before becoming a full-time driver in 2025.
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The news came shortly after the checkered flag in Qatar, with Alpine agreeing to release Ocon so he could link up with his future Haas team for a post-season test.
Ocon, whose race was ended on Sunday by outgoing Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg, has joined the French marque in 2020. and won the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix, but the relationship fell apart earlier this year.
He held his place when his temper flared after a collision with Gasly in Monaco, but will now make way for Doohan.
The 21-year-old son of motorcycling legend Mick has not raced anywhere since winning in Abu Dhabi in last year’s Formula 2 season finale.
He was on hand in Qatar, acting as Alpine’s back-up driver for what will now be the last time.
Doohan’s promotion looks set to further end speculation that Alpine may seek to replace him with Williams driver Franco Colapinto.
But Abu Dhabi will also offer a measuring stick, albeit an uneven one, with Colapinto set for the ninth and final race of his cameo.
The Argentine has been linked with a move to Red Bull for 2025, with the F1 powerhouse yet to confirm their full squads for their two teams.
While Verstappen won the Qatar Grand Prix, team-mate Sergio Perez failed to finish the race as his year of horrors continued.
Perez’s eighth place finish in the Drivers’ Championship is the lowest finish for a team-mate of a title winner since 1994. this way.
Meanwhile, Ferrari could overtake McLaren for the constructors’ championship in Abu Dhabi next week after Lando Norris’ penalty.
Norris was hit with a 10-second stop-and-go for failing to slow under yellow flags.
At one stage it looked as if McLaren could seal their first team title since 1998. heading into Qatar as Norris and Aussie star Oscar Piastri pushed for podium finishes.
Piastri took third, but Norris’ penalty – he finished 10th and earned a bonus point for fastest lap – cut their constructors’ lead from 30 points to 21 thanks to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finishing respectively second and sixth.
“Honestly, I don’t know what I did wrong right now. Apparently I didn’t slow down under the yellow. I’m not an idiot, if I had known there was a yellow I would have slowed down,” Norris said.
At the top, Verstappen celebrated his second win in three weeks, having not won since the previous June.
“It was a lot of fun out there,” said Dutchman Verstappen.
“Very happy. It’s been a dry spell for us to be this competitive. I am very proud of everyone on the team.”
Mercedes driver George Russell finished fourth, ahead of Pierre Gasly, who continued his good Alpine form of late, with Sainz sixth and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso seventh.
Zhou Guanyu earned his and Sauber’s first points of the season, finishing eighth ahead of Kevin Magnussen for Haas.
– with AAP
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