The F1 driver who was ditched before he ever raced

With just one F1 race to his name, Jack Doohan is already under immediate pressure to keep his drive at Alpine for the upcoming 2025 campaign.

On Thursday, Alpine announced they had signed Franco Colapinto on a “multi-year” deal from Williams as their new test and reserve driver.

Given the plethora of rumours surrounding Colapinto and Flavio Briatore's interest in him, Doohan’s time in F1 is likely to be short-lived.

Alpine have assured that Doohan will be in the car for the start of the season, but the Australian has been left in an increasingly awkward position.

At least for Doohan, he was able to make his F1 debut with Alpine, stepping in for Esteban Ocon at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

One driver who was signed by an F1 team but didn’t take part in the first race of the year was Brazilian driver Luiz Razia.

For 2013, minnows Marussia opted for an all-rookie F1 driver line-up of Razia and British driver Max Chilton.

Marussia were one of the three teams that had joined the grid at the start of 2010.

By 2013, HRT had fallen off the grid, while Marussia – and Caterham – had still yet to score points.

Fighting for their F1 survival, Marussia signed Razia mainly due to his significant financial backing.

The Brazilian had replaced veteran Timo Glock for the upcoming campaign, severely weakening their driver line-up, on paper at least.

Razia’s promotion from reserve driver to full-time driver came very late, with the official announcement only happening in February as 2013 pre-season testing got underway.

Razia’s exit paves way for Ferrari protege

Fast forward three weeks, Marussia had released Razia after his Brazilian backers had missed their second payment.

Team boss John Booth explained the decision, as quoted by Autosport: “We have found ourselves in a situation where we have had to terminate our contract with Luiz Razia.

“Having made clear the basis on which we must operate in 2013, and given the steps we had taken to put that new structure in place, we had no alternative but to remain true to the principles which we had identified as being key to securing our long-term future.”

It meant that Razia, despite signing for the team, never got the opportunity to make his F1 debut.

It proved to be a blessing in disguise, though, as Marussia were able to sign Ferrari protege Jules Bianchi.

Bianchi would flourish at the team, scoring their first points at the 2014 Monaco Grand Prix.

The Frenchman’s performances would have likely put him in contention for a Ferrari drive in the future had it not been for his tragic accident at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix.

Bianchi lost control of his car in treacherous conditions at Suzuka, with his car sliding under a recovery vehicle.

He spent the subsequent nine months in an induced coma, tragically passing away on 17 July 2015.

Bianchi's legacy continues to be felt in F1, with the introduction of the Halo safety device.

He was also the godfather of current Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc.