Jack Doohan, son of famous two-wheeled hero Mick Doohan, has been receiving a bit of hate recently. Just six races later, he was axed from Alpine’s Formula One grid. In this short lived stint he did not score any points but he remains on the Alpine driver roster. He’ll continue to hone his skills inside the simulator.
Fellow Formula 2 driver Franco Colapinto will replace Doohan for the rest of the European season. This decision has elicited a variety of responses from his fellow rookies. Colapinto has long been slated to take the seat ever since he joined as a reserve driver back in January. He carries great momentum and experience from his nine-race run with Williams last year.
Doohan was up against a number of obstacles that thwarted his performance. He was given little time to display his talent and drove a car that simply didn’t have the chops. It’s why colleagues have been so fierce in calling the decision to drop him a bad decision. They think he needed more time to adjust to the European circuits familiar to him.
Oliver Bearman expressed sympathy for Doohan, stating, “I can only imagine it’s a horrible situation and I feel like his treatment was very unfair.” He explained that beginners usually have a hard time in sprint events, further compounding the difficulty they face. It’s been four of six tracks that have been the first time for us as rookies, so it’s just learning those things. We’ve already completed two of the sprint events, which are even more challenging for us as first-timers,” Bearman said. He further emphasized the harshness of Alpine’s decision, remarking, “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. Imagine.
Fellow rookie Isack Hadjar defended Doohan, pointing out the weight of expectation that had been placed on him going into the season. “Even before the season, it smelled a bit bad, because I think he entered the season with a lot of pressure, expectations,” Hadjar stated. He cautioned when looking at the environment around Doohan’s case, adding, “So not a really great 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.
Beyond the wisdom of replacing Doohan, there are broader questions about fairness and support for rookie drivers in Formula One that this decision has left open. The opinion prevailed that he had shown sufficient potential to provide him with additional chances within the sport. Doohan is preparing for those obstacles down the line on the simulator. Colapinto from behind the wheel is fueling a budding debate on the treatment of rookies in Formula One.
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