Mick Schumacher, Jack Doohan to test for Alpine ahead of F1 grid decision

Mick Schumacher and Jack Doohan have known each other for years. The two drivers have been lifelong friends, a relationship forged by the friendship between their fathers, and Michael Schumacher even gifted the younger Doohan his very first racing kart.

Now the two friends are both under consideration for a spot at Alpine next season.

The French team announced recently that they were parting ways with Esteban Ocon at the end of the 2024 Formula 1 season, opening up a spot on the grid with the team for next year. That opens up at least one seat at Alpine for the 2024 F1 campaign, and with Pierre Gasly also driving on an expiring contract, there is a scenario where both seats are available.

As part of their analysis regarding options for 2025, the team confirmed on Monday that both Schumacher and Doohan would be testing the A522, the team’s challenger for the 2022 F1 season, next week. The testing will take place at Circuit Paul Richard, a track that has previously hosted the French Grand Prix.

The testing is part of F1’s Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) program, which allows teams to test cars that are two years older or more. Various teams have used this program already this season for several different reasons. For example, Mercedes used this program to offer both Schumacher — who in addition to his World Endurance Championship duties with Alpine is a reserve for Mercedes — and young phenom Andrea Kimi Antonelli a chance to get behind the wheel of an F1 car.

“Ultimately all the tests are carried out to ensure our older cars are fit for running at marketing events. They provide an opportunity to capture plenty of content too. It also provides an added benefit for the drivers,” Mercedes Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin explained recently. “For example, whilst Mick is helping shake down an old car or ensure it’s in good running order, it also enables him to keep his skills sharp as a driver. For Kimi, he can benefit from building experience in F1 machinery.”

Teams can also use the TPC sessions to gather data on their current challengers, via a comparison between this year’s car and a previous model. For example, Red Bull recently put Max Verstappen back in the RB18, their 2022 challenger, to try and offer a comparison point between that car, and the RB20, their current model.

“We really tried to give Max a reference from a previous car,” explained Red Bull Chief Engineer Paul Monaghan. “When you’re trying to assess the strengths and weaknesses of a current car, his reference is the current car, and it’s ‘in previous years, we’ve had this, we’ve had that’.

“[But] have we really? Because we haven’t run them at the same time. So in taking that car out, we tried to give Max a reference to judge it from and he’s been able to give us feedback from that.”

The announcement of a testing session for both Doohan and Schumacher comes as speculation only grows about Alpine’s options for 2025. The team announced late last week, ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix, that former F1 executive Flavio Briatore was joining the organization in an advisory role. That announcement was then followed by reports that Briatore was making a last-ditch effort to woo Carlos Sainz Jr. to Alpine.

Sainz has long been linked with both Williams and Sauber, but now Alpine seems to be a third option for the highly-coveted veteran driver.

However, Alpine has to consider all potential options, and getting direct data from both Doohan and Schumacher will give them critical information when deciding on 2025.

Could one — or both — be on the grid next year with Alpine? The upcoming testing session will go a long way toward answering that critical question.