Japanese Grand Prix: Jack Doohan throws his support behind demoted fellow F1 rookie Liam Lawson

Australian Jack Doohan has backed demoted Liam Lawson to thrive at RB while Max Verstappen is unapologetic for his social media support and Ferrari woes are laid bare ahead of the Japan Grand Prix.

Australian rookie Jack Doohan has thrown his support behind demoted Red Bull driver Liam Lawson as he reflected on the pressure he faced amid rampant speculation about his own future entering this year’s Formula 1 season.

Describing Formula 1 as a “cutthroat sport” as he addressed the pressure rookie drivers are placed under, Doohan said it was “difficult” to see what had happened to Lawson but added the Kiwi was fortunate to still have the safety net of a Racing Bulls seat to continue in F1.

Lawson was booted from his Red Bull drive after just two races and has been replaced by Japan’s Yuki Tsunoda from this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix.

Doohan has faced plenty of scrutiny entering his own rookie F1 campaign, forced to defend his spot on the grid before the opening race after Argentine Franco Colapinto was signed as a reserve driver.

It came amid speculation Alpine executive adviser Flavio Briatore wanted the Australian replaced within five events.

Jack Doohan has thrown his support behind demoted Red Bull drive Liam Lawson of New Zealand. Picture: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Speaking to media in Japan ahead of this week’s race at Suzuka, Doohan said he felt for Lawson, but tipped him to bounce back and be more of a threat at RB.

“You know, to be honest, it’s difficult to see and I feel for him. But he’s still in Formula 1,” Doohan said as per motorsport.com.

“You know, I had rumours that I wasn’t even going to drive before I drove. I think he’s an extremely, extremely talented driver and for one reason or another, you know, had a very hard time.

“But again, only two races. So it’s a shame. But I think, to be honest, he’s going to be more of a threat at RB than he potentially was at Red Bull.”

Asked about the pressure that rookie drivers faced in Formula 1, Doohan acknowledged the ruthless nature of the sport.

“It’s a cutthroat sport. And especially in that situation, I don’t want to comment too much on it,” Doohan said.

“But in a top team especially. But, yeah, this is Formula 1. It’s a business where they rely on performances and results.

“But, you know he was in a very, very tricky situation. And we know how tough that Red Bull is to drive. So I won’t be commenting any further.”

Doohan also faced a difficult start to his season, crashing out in his season-opening home race in Australia and crossed the line in 16th in China, before ending up 13th in the final classification after a trio of disqualifications ahead of him.

FERRARI FAIL

Ferrari star Charles Leclerc has lashed the Scuderia’s performance so far this season as “just not good enough” as teammate Lewis Hamilton shot down suggestions he had lost faith in the team already as “complete rubbish” after their double disqualification in China.

After the initial hype of seven-time world champion Hamilton’s arrival at Ferrari, the team has faced what Leclerc described as a “difficult” start to the season.

Ferrari star Charles Leclerc has lashed the Scuderia’s performance. Picture: Clive Mason/Getty Images

Leclerc and Hamilton finished eighth and 10th in the rain at the Australian Grand Prix before both were disqualified for technical breaches in Shanghai.

The only highlight has been Hamilton’s sprint race victory in China, but Leclerc suggested that only came because the British champion was able to “outperform” his car.

“It’s been a very difficult first part of the season. The first two races were difficult, the pace was not where we expected it to be, and to lose even more points than we already did with that, it hurts the team a lot,” Leclerc told media in Japan.

“It’s always tricky to extract the maximum (from the car), I don’t think it’s harder this season – the performance compared to McLaren is just not good enough.

“It’s not about extracting the performance – it’s just that there isn’t enough of it for now. But step by step, I’m sure and confident we can close that gap, starting from this weekend hopefully.

“In China, Lewis did an outstanding job on Friday. Maybe some drivers didn’t put everything together in qualifying and he managed to do that and managed to outperform the car a bit.”

Despite the costly double disqualification, Hamilton said he maintained full faith in the team and said it would “take time” to build a title chase together.

“I saw something about whether I’m losing faith with the team, which is complete rubbish,” Hamilton, 40, said.

“I have absolute, 100 per cent faith in this team. There was obviously a huge amount of hype at the beginning of the year and I don’t know whether everyone was expecting us to be winning from race one and winning a championship in the first year. I’m coming to a new culture, a new team and it’s going to take time.”

MAXED OUT

World champion Max Verstappen says he did not make a “mistake” when he liked a social media post criticising Red Bull’s decision to demote Liam Lawson as he suggested the team’s biggest issue was its car.

Former Dutch F1 driver Giedo van der Garde slammed Red Bull’s move to drop Lawson to its sister team Racing Bulls after just two rounds as “bullying or a panic move” last week in an Instagram post, which was “liked” by Verstappen’s official account.

The move led to commentary Verstappen was unhappy with the move to replace Lawson so quickly.

Clarifying the situation ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, Verstappen said he had not made an error in liking the post and had shared his thoughts privately with the team.

“Well, I liked the text, so I guess that speaks for itself, right? It was not a mistake,” Verstappen said in Japan as per Sky Sports F1.

Max Verstappen has stood by his ‘like’ of a post critical of Red Bull’s decision to demote Liam Lawson. Picture: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

“My reaction was shared with the team, but in general about not only the swap, but about everything.

“We discussed that already during the last race weekend and back at the factory.

“Everything has been shared with the team, how I think about everything. Sometimes it’s not necessary to always share everything in public.”

Verstappen, who is aiming for a record-equalling five straight world championships, said the team’s main issue was the car’s performance.

“I think our main issue is that our car is not where we want it to be,” said Verstappen, who has finished second and fourth in the first two Grand Prix.

“I think everyone knows that within the team as well and that’s what I focus on, to be honest, because as soon as the car is more competitive and more drivable in general, then I think even in the other car it will come to you anyway a bit more naturally.”

TITLE FIGHT

Australian star Oscar Piastri has conceded it would become a “pretty stressful year” if he was already worried about the 10-point margin separating himself and McLaren teammate Lando Norris in the Formula 1 championship fight.

The papaya squad has underlined themselves as the team to beat this year winning the opening two Grand Prix of the season.

Norris won in the wet in the season-opening race in Melbourne, while Piastri converted from pole in an almost perfect weekend in China.

Piastri sits fourth in the drivers’ standings, 10 points behind championship leader Norris.

Oscar Piastri is un-worried about the 10 point margin in the F1 championship fight. Picture: Toshifumi KITAMURA / AFP)

While Piastri said he wanted to “reverse the gap”, he said he was not spending time sweating over the standings so early in the season.

“You never want to give any advantage away, whether it’s lap time or points. You never want to give it away if you don’t have to,” Piastri said as per Sky Sports F1.

“Of course, I want to try and reverse that gap that we have.

“But with 22 races to go it would be a pretty stressful year if you were worrying about that gap already.

“For me, it’s just trying to make sure I execute every weekend to the best that I can. I feel like the first two weekends of the year have been good examples of that and think if you do that, then the points will naturally take care of itself.”

Originally published as Japanese Grand Prix: Jack Doohan throws his support behind demoted fellow F1 rookie Liam Lawson