Alpine Formula 1 team principal Oliver Oakes acknowledged the late timing of swapping Esteban Ocon for Jack Doohan was "not perfect" but parried criticism on the "straightforward" decision itself.
Over the Qatar Grand Prix weekend, Alpine decided it was only going to release 2025 Haas signing Ocon to his new team for Abu Dhabi's winter test on the condition that Ocon ceded his spot in what would have been his final race for Alpine to his replacement Jack Doohan.
