Mick Doohan defends son Jack with strong social media message after Alpine exit

There had been months of speculation about Jack's future with Alpine, especially after the French team brought in Franco Colapinto as a reserve driver. Doohan could have silenced the doubts had he consistently delivered standout performances in every race, but failed to impress in just six 2025 race starts.

As mentioned, these top performances never materialised. In nearly every race, Doohan was outshone by his teammate Pierre Gasly, who will be joined by new teammate Franco Colapinto starting from the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in just over a week. The Argentinian impressed when standing in for Logan Sargeant at Williams after the American's dismissal from Williams in the second half of 2024. The question now is: will things improve with the Argentine at the wheel?

That remains to be seen. What is clear, however, is that Mick Doohan appears to suggest—through two Instagram posts—that the blame lies more with the Alpine car than with Jack himself. The Australian motorsport legend compared his son's results to those of Pierre Gasly, highlighting how little difference there really was. A subtle hint that, in his eyes, Jack was unfairly dropped from the Enstone team.

Chaos continues to unfold at Alpine at the leadership level. Former Enstone boss Flavio Briatore has taken the role of team principal from Oliver Oakes, who was in charge at Alpine for less than a year.  The Brit resigned just before Colapinto was revealed as Doohan's replacement, but according to recent reports, that had nothing to do with his sudden exit.