Alpine organizes a race among his reservists to replace Doohan!

For a long time we wondered why Alpine had chosen to take four reserve drivers, we now have the answer! We knew that Jack Doohan was in the hot seat even before the start of the season, especially after the statements of Flavio Briatore who had clearly set the tone: results or the door! And the Italian manager, certainly inspired by the methods of Red Bull who replaced Liam Lawson with Yuki tsunoda before the Japanese GP, also made a radical decision. The executive advisor ofAlpine got tired of waiting and faced with Jack Doohan's poor performances in Australia and China, Flavio Briatore chose to replace him with one of the four reserves recruited by the A fléché!

Problem: who should be chosen to supplant the Australian? Franco Colapinto for fervor? Paul Aron for youth? Ryo Hirakawa for experience? Or Kush Maini for sponsors? Faced with this Cornelian dilemma, Alpine has made the choice... not to make a choice, and to leave its reserves free to decide their own fate. To determine who will have the chance to take over Jack Doohan's seat, the French team is innovating and will schedule something new in Formula 1 : a private race between its four reserves!

Alpine fishing for pilots

Indeed, Alpine will travel to the Nevers Magny-Cours circuit, between the Japanese Grand Prix and the Bahrain Grand Prix, to organize a race between the four contenders. All will ride aboard theAlpine A523 as part of the TPC program, thanks to an exemption granted by the FIA ​​that allows the French team to run four single-seaters at the same time. During this unique and unprecedented day in the history of Formula 1, the four reservists will have one hour of testing in the morning, before moving on to qualifying, which will be carried out over a single flying lap, in the same format as in 2003 and 2004.

The afternoon, Alpine will hold a 50-lap race on the 4,4-kilometer Nièvre circuit. Formation lap, pit stops, Safety Car: everything will be organized like a real Grand Prix to test the drivers' dexterity and their resistance to the various elements they might encounter in the race. Unfortunately, for French fans, public access will not be allowed: so there's no point in going to Magny-Cours, unless you want to hear the sanitized sound of the V6 turbo hybrids. In the event of a last-minute withdrawal among the four reservists, Alpine could call on her F1 Academy protégé, Nina Gademan, to make up the numbers. However, the Dutchwoman is not eligible for an F1 seat since she does not have enough Super Licence points.

The winner of this private race will simply win Jack Doohan's seat, starting at the Bahrain Grand Prix! A unique selection in the modern history of Formula 1... which is reminiscent of the "detections" organized by Renault in the early 2000s to test and recruit its reserve drivers. In fact, at the time, Flavio Briatore was already in charge, so who will be lucky enough to win this race and make it to Formula 1?

This article is obviously an April Fool's joke from the AUTOhebdo editorial team! 🐟

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