Flavio Briatore refuses to ‘accept’ one thing he’s hearing about Jack Doohan at the Miami Grand Prix

Jack Doohan was left furious with his Alpine team after an SQ1 exit at the Miami Grand Prix on Friday. He didn’t make it to the line in time to set another lap.

Doohan found himself at the back of a traffic jam in the pit lane. He felt he was blocked by teammate Pierre Gasly when he first pulled out of the garage, costing him more places in the queue.

With so much traffic and little time, he took an early chequered flag. That leaves him 17th on the grid.

Speaking over the team radio, Doohan called Alpine’s execution at the end of the session a ‘joke’. He was seen remonstrating with a member of staff as he walked back down the pit lane.

All told, this is already the fifth time the Australian has been eliminated in the first segment of qualifying. He’s one of four drivers yet to score a point and sits second from bottom in the standings, only ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto.

Flavio Briatore scoffs at narrative that Jack Doohan is ‘under pressure’ at Alpine

Doohan’s poor result, and his outburst at his team, take on an added significance amid the uncertainty over his seat. There have been strong rumours that Franco Colapinto, the team’s reserve driver, will replace him at some point.

That talk had cooled until one of Colapinto’s sponsors mentioned a possible appearance at Imola, the next stop in the calendar. Sky Italy asked team boss Flavio Briatore about his driver plans at the Miami Grand Prix.

In addition to Colapinto, Alpine also have Paul Aron and Kush Maini in their driver stable. But Briatore has ruled out a rotational approach.

However, he wouldn’t confirm that Doohan will stay put until the end of the season. It irks him when he hears that the rookie is ‘under pressure’, because he regards that as inevitable in Formula 1.

“I think we evaluate from time to time,” he said. “Now we have arrived at the sixth race, the only thing we have to see is to do well in this race here and get at least one car in the points, and then we discuss.

“But I don’t accept it when they say that Doohan was under pressure, because when you arrive in Formula 1, everyone is under pressure. The pressure is there for those who go to work at Fiat for 2,500 euros, even less, a month, they are under pressure.”

Jack Doohan’s Miami Grand Prix outburst shows what’s really going on behind the scenes

It was reported this week that team principal Oliver Oakes is inclined to keep Doohan, while Briatore would like to promote Colapinto. That would explain why the rumours are lingering without really progressing.

Briatore appears to outrank Oakes as a direct advisor to Renault CEO Luca de Meo. He’s taken bigger picture decisions while deferring day-to-day tasks.

But Oakes may not be alone in his stance. Some Alpine insiders aren’t keen on Colapinto, and Briatore might be wary of parachuting him into an environment where he lacks full support.

Doohan’s fury over an SQ1 exit that’s unlikely to define his weekend speaks volumes. Much as Briatore may say otherwise, it’s clear that he feels a unique pressure from within Enstone, and that’s fostering a desperation to score points.

With Gasly only 13th in the other car, that could be beyond the reach of Alpine this weekend.