Australian media slam 'criminal' Briatore after Doohan replaced by Colapinto

There have been several key events at Alpine since the Miami Grand Prix. On Tuesday evening, it was announced that Oliver Oakes had left Alpine, with it being rumoured that Doohan would be replaced by Colapinto. Briatore took over the responsibilities of the team boss.

Just one day later, it was officially announced that Doohan would be returning to his reserve driver role and that Colapinto would take the seat on a 'rotation' basis, which will then be evaluated after the British Grand Prix.

After Doohan's departure, the Australian media source had the headline: ‘Second head rolls as 'criminal' takes over following Jack Doohan sacking’.

The medium stated: "Briatore is an infamous figure in the sport, and the sight of him taking power at the team will not sit well with all F1 commentators."

"He was, at the time, given a lifetime ban by the FIA, Formula 1’s governing body, for the incident. That ban was eventually overturned in a French court," continued the Australian paper.

The medium also points to other crimes Briatore was involved in, including 'fraudulent bankruptcy and tax evasion’.

It was then suggested that it is plausible Briatore was behind the decision to replace Doohan: "Wednesday’s announcement makes him the new top dog at Alpine — if he wasn’t already the dominant figure pulling the strings secretly from an arms-length away."