Chilling Jack Doohan secret comes to light after Alpine demotion

Jack Doohan was privately dealing with terrifying matters behind the scenes before his F1 axing with emails coming to light.

Jack Doohan was reportedly dealing with such serious threats to his safety that he had deployed a 24-hour security team at the Miami Grand Prix.

The chilling detail has come to light after the Australian was dropped by his Alpine team just six races into the 2025 Formula 1 season.

The basket case team has been in chaos in recent weeks, headlined by Doohan’s sacking and the shock resignation of former team principal Oliver Oakes.

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Rumours of Alpine’s plan to promote Franco Colapinto at Doohan’s expense swirled from the moment the Argentine made the curious decision to switch from Williams to take up a reserve driver role with the team that previously raced under the “Renault” flag.

It made Doohan arguably the most under-pressure driver on the grid — and it has now been revealed the 22-year-old was dealing with much more serious matters.

Social media abuse from F1 spectators in Argentina is something Doohan battled publicly throughout the year — but according to leading F1 photographer Kym Illman, there was another chilling layer to the messages Doohan was receiving.

“He was receiving all sorts of threats online so much so that he had around-the-clock security in Miami and was planning on keeping that security for the Brazilian Grand Prix,” Illman said on Instagram.

“It was plain to see by those close to the Aussie that those threats weighed heavily on him.

“People had discovered his personal email address and were sending email threats which resulted in Jack, his girlfriend and even his father holding real concerns for their safety in Miami and on top of that, Jack’s sleep was affected.

“I’m certain Franco wouldn’t be endorsing any of that behaviour from what is a minority of his fanbase.”

Doohan has been dating Australian Ebony Zippora Gold. The pair have been seen at several public events together, but have not discussed their relationship in public.

According to UK media, Gold currently lives in Monaco. Jack Doohan is also based out of Monaco like many F1 drivers.

F1 has been saddened by the chilling revelations about Jack Doohan and his girlfriend, Ebony.

Mick missed the mark with his post. (Photo by Kym Illman/Getty Images)

Colapinto has developed a hard-line following in his country of 45 million people with the football-mad nation’s interest in Formula 1 skyrocketing since he made his debut last year.

Some of those followers reportedly took the disgusting step of abusing Doohan to get their rising star back into a driving seat.

Alpine’s decision to drop Doohan and install Colapinto alongside Pierre Gasly did not go over well with Jack’s father Mick Doohan.

The motorcycle legend attempted to come to the defence of his son as he took aim at the F1 team over the brutal move.

The five-time MotoGP world champion posted a graphic of Doohan and Gasly’s race results from the season so far on his Instagram stories.

He was attempting to highlight just how poorly the Alpine car has been performing but F1 fans pointed out that the graphic he shared only served to emphasise how Jack was outclassed by his teammate.

For the record, Gasly’s results are 11th, 11th, 13th, 7th, DNF, 13th and Doohan’s results are: DNF, 13th, 15th, 14th, 17th, DNF.

F1 drivers are measured closely against their teammates first and foremost, and Doohan finishing behind Gasly would not have gone unnoticed within Alpine.

Mick Doohan sharing Pierre Gasly and his son Jack’s results from this season on his Instagram stories … 🤔

Alpine replaced Jack for Franco Colapinto on Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/Q72C9uX9S0

— Daniel Valente 🏎️ (@F1GuyDan) May 7, 2025

Mick has been a constant presence trackside throughout his son’s career so far as Jack climbed the ranks, winning races in junior categories and Formula 2 before landing an F1 seat.

Last month Mick shared a photo of a massive mural for his home showing himself racing on a motorbike and Jack alongside him in the Alpine F1 car.

It remains to be seen if Jack will get another chance to rekindle his F1 career, with Colapinto and Alpine reserve driver Paul Aron both highly touted prospects likely.

Alpine is ninth in the constructors’ standings and the team has been mired in turmoil to start the season, culminating in the resignation of team principal Oli Oakes this week.

The team’s executive advisor Flavio Briatore, who is also Doohan’s manager, will also take on the team principal duties previously performed by Oakes.

Jack Doohan and Flavio Briatore. Photo by SHAWN THEW / POOL / AFP.

Briatore, who oversaw multiple world titles for Benetton in the 1990s and Renault in the mid-2000s, was the dominant figure of the “Crashgate” scandal which saw his driver Nelson Piquet intentionally crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to help Renault teammate Fernando Alonso win the race.

“I am very proud to have achieved my lifelong ambition to be a professional Formula 1 driver and I will forever be grateful to the team for helping me achieve this dream,” Doohan said in an Alpine statement after his demotion.

“Obviously, this latest chapter is a tough one for me to take because, as a professional driver, naturally I want to be racing.

“That said, I appreciate the team’s trust and commitment. We have long-term goals as a team to achieve and I will continue to give my maximum efforts in any way I can to help achieve those.

“For now, I will keep my head down, keep working hard, watch with interest the next five races and keep chasing my own personal goals.”

The F1 season continues at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday 18 May at 11pm AEST.

Originally published as Chilling Jack Doohan secret comes to light after Alpine demotion