‘Smelled bad’: F1 stars slam Jack Doohan treatment from Alpine

With Jack Doohan’s dumping becoming official this weekend, some fellow drivers have slammed the treatment of the young Aussie.

Some of Jack Doohan’s fellow F1 rookies have rallied around the young Aussie after his unceremonious dumping by the Alpine team.

Just six races into his first full season at the top level, Doohan was axed by the F1 team last week, replaced by Franco Colapinto for at least the next five events.

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Many believe the 22-year-old Aussie has been dealt with incredibly harshly, with whispers over his demise swirling ever since the team signed Argentine Colapinto as a reserve driver in early January.

Doohan endured a difficult start to the season and his demotion was made official on May 7 following the Miami Grand Prix, where he crashed out on Turn 1 of the opening lap.

Ahead of this week’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Italy, a number of drivers had the first opportunity to speak about Doohan’s treatment.

Some fellow rookies have offered support to Jack Doohan. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

Doohan crashing in practice at the Japan GP on April 4. (Photo by Bryn Lennon – Formula 1 via Getty Images)

Twenty-year-old Frenchman Isack Hadjar, who is in his first season with the Racing Bulls outfit, offered staunch support to the son of MotoGP legend Mick Doohan.

“Even before the season, it smelled a bit bad, because I think he entered the season with a lot of pressure, expectations,” he said. “So not a really good environment.

“And it feels quite unfair, because six races in, he didn’t have much time to show anything, and it’s not that he had a rocket ship as well. So, yeah, a bit harsh.”

Hadjar spoke about different expectations for him at his back-up Red Bull team while taking a swipe at Alpine, which is currently second-last in the constructors’ championship with just seven points through six races.

Isack Hadjar slammed the treatment of the young Aussie. (Photo by Chandan Khanna / AFP)

“I didn’t have a gun to my head before starting the season,” Hadjar added. “So that was definitely helpful.

“I can understand when you’re Red Bull, you want to fight for the world championship, so this makes sense (to make changes) maybe in the top team.

“But otherwise if you want your rookie to have experience, then you need to give him races. Otherwise he can’t race.”

Red Bull did just that, pulling the trigger on New Zealand’s Liam Lawson after just two races in 2025, replacing him with Hadjar’s former teammate Yuki Tsunoda.

As expected, the majority of this year’s rookie class are struggling in the standings to date, with Mercedes’ sixth-placed Andrea Kimi Antonelli the only one currently in the top 10.

Franco Colapinto steps into Doohan’s seat at Imola this weekend. (Photo by Andrej ISAKOVIC / AFP)

First-year Haas driver Oliver Bearman felt Doohan was given virtually no chance to prove his worth in the premier class.

“I can only imagine it’s a horrible situation and I feel like his treatment was very unfair,” Bearman said in Italy.

“We’ve gone to four out of six tracks that have been new to us as rookies. We’ve had two Sprint events which are even more difficult for us as rookies.

“Before he even gets to the European season where there are the tracks he knows, he’s already thrown out of the car.

“So, yeah. Incredibly harsh.”

Three-time F1 race winner Johnny Herbert also weighed into the drama, which reportedly included serious online threats towards Doohan before Alpine made the change.

“I find it disgraceful that these people react in this particular manner, because if they are true Colapinto fans, you don’t threaten a driver and his family,” Herbert told news.com.au, per Casinozonderlimiet.co.

“That’s just totally and utterly totally out of order and all because they think that Doohan was taking Colapinto’s seat.

“That’s so out of order and I think these people should be found out. There are ways that these people can be found and hopefully that is something that happens because Jack has done absolutely nothing wrong.

“He had an opportunity and it didn’t quite pay off. Now Colapinto has that chance which was coming his way anyway.

“It’s a classic situation of social media and the people believing that they can just say what they want, when they want and basically are faceless. They should be ashamed of themselves.”

You can watch every practice and qualifying session of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Kayo Sports, as well as the race on Sunday at 11pm AEST.

Originally published as ‘Smelled bad’: F1 stars slam Jack Doohan treatment from Alpine