Alpine’s Famin: Doohan ‘an option’ to replace Ocon

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Alpine boss Bruno Famin has confirmed that reserve driver Jack Doohan is in the mix to fill Esteban Ocon’s seat at the French outfit for 2025.

Ahead of this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, Alpine officially announced Ocon's departure from the team at the end of the season, coinciding with the final year of his contract.

Pierre Gasly’s plans for 2025 are still unclear but all signs point to the Frenchman remaining on the grid with Alpine.

The team now turns its focus towards the future and to finding a suitable replacement for Ocon, with Doohan a strong candidate to succeed the latter.

“I think he's an option, for sure,” Famin told Sky Sports. “Jack is an option. We are preparing him.

“He was testing in Zandvoort some time ago and he has quite a heavy testing programme. We are happy with that and let's see how he develops.

“He's one possibility among others, but he's one possibility, for sure.”

Read also:

Gasly: Partnership with Ocon not easy, but ‘it’s always been good’

In addition to his private test programme with Alpine, Doohan is earmarked for the French outfit’s mandatory rookie practice sessions, with the Aussie fulfilling in Montreal on Friday the first of his two FP1 outings.

Unfortunately for the 21-year-old charger, the opening session’s mixed conditions only allowed him to undertake three exploratory laps of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

“It was not the most exciting FP1 session for me, with limited running due to the weather conditions,” Doohan admitted.

“With the forecast for the remainder of the weekend also looking uncertain, it was important to save tyres and keep some sets back in case the rain remains.

“We were able to get an installation lap in with the wet tyre and make sure the car was running fine.

“Then when the track was drying towards the end, we finished off with an out lap on the soft tyre and conducted a practice start.

“We still managed to gather some useful data,” he added.

“In the end, the weather is outside of our control, but we made the most of what we could given the conditions.”

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.