Alpine puts Doohan, Colapinto through their paces in private F1 test

Doohan is set to join Pierre Gasly as one of Alpine’s race drivers this season while Colapinto has signed on the squad as reserve driver.

The pair formed part of a Test Previous Car (TPC) outing in Spain that also saw Paul Aron and Ryo Hirakawa in action.

The test took place earlier this week at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya circuit, home of the F1 Spanish Grand Prix.

It has been claimed that Alpine advisor Flavio Briatore has requested a “very complete report” on both Doohan and Colapinto.

While the Australian is set to race for the Enstone operation this year, he has come under pressure following the arrival of Colapinto.

The Argentine caught the eye during a nine-race cameo in 2024 at Williams where he proved a match for the highly-rated Alex Albon.

However, with no possibility for a race drive there in the near future, he’s instead switched to Alpine for 2025.

There, he’ll support Doohan and Gasly as reserve driver while team boss Oliver Oakes noted that he offers the outfit options going forward.

Colapinto cannot complete any Friday sessions owing to the fact he now has nine grand prix starts to his name. Those duties will fall to Hirakawa and Aron.

Teams are permitted to run older machinery under TPC regulations though there are restrictions on the mileage race drivers can cover.

For Alpine, Doohan and Gasly can chalk up no more than 1000km between them.

Details on the number of laps Doohan completed in Spain have not been revealed, the outing understood to be a way of giving the young Aussie more seat time ahead of his rookie season.

A race winner in the junior categories, Doohan made his F1 race debut at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the end of 2024.