Jack Doohan's father broke his silence and aimed at Flavio Briatore's management, the motorcycle champion said that his son had a long term contract, but that "for reasons I can't say" they took a different direction.
Mick Doohan, a motorcycling legend and father of Australian driver Jack Doohan, launched harsh criticisms against Alpine over the way his son was pushed out of Formula 1 after Franco Colapinto's arrival. In an interview with the newspaper Marca, the five time 500cc world champion did not hide his anger and described the situation as "unfair."
The origin of the conflict dates back to early 2025, when Alpine announced the signing of Franco Colapinto as a reserve driver, the Argentine arrived on loan from Williams for five years, until the end of 2029. At that time, the French team's main drivers were Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan, who had replaced Esteban Ocon since the 2024 Abu Dhabi GP.
However, pressure on the Australian was constant from the start of the championship, some major accidents ended up costing him his seat. Colapinto returned to F1 from the Imola GP (seventh round), while Doohan moved to reserve until his definitive departure from Alpine was confirmed in early 2026.
"I can't comment on that. But it was unfair. It was from the beginning. They replaced a driver before the season started. Basically, that was it," Mick Doohan began, visibly upset.
But the Australian went further and suggested that there were non sporting issues that were not respected: "My son had a long term contract. It was clear, for reasons I can't say, that a different direction was taken," he said, hinting that behind Alpine's decision there were factors he prefers not to reveal publicly.
The motorcycle world champion also took the opportunity to implicitly criticize the management of Flavio Briatore, Alpine's special advisor known for his controversial decisions: "He's a strong young man and now he's competing in Barcelona with a race car, he's with Haas F1 as a reserve driver, looking to secure a seat and, perhaps, with a team that is more committed to contracts," Doohan closed.
Currently, Jack Doohan has a dual role: he is a reserve driver at Haas and competes in the 2026 European Le Mans Series with the Nielsen ELMS team in the LMP2 category, alongside Roy Nissany and Edward Pearson. The Australian did not score points during his time in F1 and is now waiting for a new opportunity. Meanwhile, his father has made it clear that he does not forget what he considers a betrayal by Alpine.
The wounds from this episode are still open, and Mick Doohan's words serve as a reminder that in Formula 1, contracts sometimes mean less than the political winds blowing through the paddock. For Jack, the focus is now on proving his worth elsewhere, but for his father, the memory of what happened at Alpine will not fade anytime soon.