F1: Jack Doohan, Franco Colapinto and the Dance of Millions

Ralf Schumacher talked about the economic contribution that would arrive in Alpine from an Australian sponsors and sowed doubts about support for the Argentine.

While the budgetary roof that formula 1 imposed from 2021 caused that it was no longer so essential to have payment pilots, it is still a difficult treat to despise. This year, the World Cup teams cannot discuss more than 135 million dollars in their expenses, among which the salaries of the pilots, of the three best paid members of Team, Logistics and Marketing are excluded. By 2026, with the change of regulations that will lead to new chassis and engines, the top will rise to 215 million. The money always marked the course in the highest category of motor racing and, on many occasions, weed wallets led to go up or down pilots beyond the yields. And there lies, according to Ralf Schumacher, the present of Alpine with Jack Doohan.

The Australian lives under pressure from before starting the 76th World Cup season for the arrival of Franco Colapinto as a reserve. The Argentine is the bet of Flavio Briatore, who began to regent his sports career and introduced him to the French team from his position as an executive advisor. The Argentine played the last nine careers of 2024 with Williams, generated a lot of noise in social networks (which translates into money) and movement. In addition, his first track performances were outstanding for a pilot who barely had a handful of kilometers of previous tests. Without experience and uploaded to the hurried, the Buenos Aires took his opportunity and even gave himself the pleasure of scoring points in two of his first four competitions (Azerbaijan and the United States). Then the bad ones arrived: he failed under water in Brazil and destroyed the car twice (classification and race) and made a great calculation error in the Las Vegas classification (he hit the internal wall and ended against the external) and destroyed the FW46 again. Briatore saw sports performance and a commercial vein in Colapinto and did not hesitate to get its avid claws.

Doohan’s walk on track combined some positive moments on a return, but many rhythm problems in the race. In Saudi Arabia, he was penultimate on the track, far from being able to fight for a better position, and that only maximized the rumors, especially arising from Argentina, on a possible exit of the Australian and his immediate replacement for Buenos Aires, based, in many cases, on an alleged contract of six races of the 500cc pentacampeon son, something meaningless because there are no meaning because there are no links. At times everything seemed like a perineola, that Miami, that imola … From Alpine, Silenzio Stampa. Everything continued its normal course and the media in Europe point to a clause (totally usual in the pilots’ contracts) to review the performance in the recess of the boreal summer, which will begin on August 3, after the Hungary GP. These conditions in the links can throw the signed by land regardless of the real duration of the pact.

In the middle is the money that the pilots can bring to the teams through spasors. Michael Schumacher’s brother spoke in the Podcast Backstage Boxangasse about the performance and contribution that would come from Doohan to Alpine: “Jack is not a class C driver as Helmut Marko said. Certainly, he is a good pilot, but, in my opinion, not good enough for Formula 1. Of course, he is still a bit of a team Pierre Gasly, who has also adapted to the team and is receiving support. That is why it may be a bit hard and unfair, but I would say that, in relation to the other rookies, you can see that it is someone who could not necessarily compete for the world championship at some point, so to speak. ”

Then it was time to talk about wallets and found a reason why Colapinto would be slowed in his intention to reach the second chair of the A525. “I heard that Doohan has a sponsor with a value of 10 million euros in the pocket and if the collapint money does not arrive, then I do not think they change it for the moment, because that has to be paid in some way.” The sayings of the youngest of the Schumacher brothers paint the world of the World Cup: business. And, also of course, he points out that Colapinto is another payment pilot, because if he had an economic contribution that equaled Doohan could have the place. From Europe they point out that one of the companies that supported the Argentine in his passage through Williams did not agree with Alpine.

“I can imagine that Doohan will survive in some way, but Flavio is always good to surprise,” Ralf closed. In short, it is only a matter of money.