F1 rookie Oliver Bearman has criticised Alpihe for dropping Jack Doohan after just five races, stating it was an “incredibly harsh” decision.

The Austrian has been removed from the Alpine car in favour of Franco Colapinto but Bearman believes he was not given a fair chance.

Oliver Bearman defends fellow rookie Jack Doohan

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Even before the season had begun, Doohan’s future was under the spotlight after Alpine paid a considerable amount to hire Colapinto from Williams.

And while Flavio Briatore at the time insisted they would start the season with Doohan, he has now been dropped with Colapinto given six races to prove he is worthy of staying there.

Doohan, who was part of Alpine’s academy from 2022 to 2024, now must find his way back into F1 and Bearman has expressed sympathy for him.

“I think it’s very difficult, that situation to have that pressure weighing over your head already from race one, I can only imagine that’s a horrible situation,” Bearman said.

“I feel like his treatment was very unfair. Coming from his position, being a rookie myself, it’s very difficult, especially in the first half of the season.

“First quarter of the season, we’ve gone to, I think four out of six tracks have been new for us as rookies. We’ve had two sprint events, which are even more difficult for us as rookies.

“And before you even get to the European season, where there are the tracks, he knows, he’s already thrown out of the car. So incredibly harsh, in my opinion.”

Doohan’s former team-mate Pierre Gasly was tight-lipped on the situation, refusing to comment on whether it was a fair decision or not.

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“What I’m going to say is I got on very well with Jack. Very nice guy, quick driver. Obviously a rookie in Formula 1 which is tough, especially in a very strong field this year with a lot of quick guys. It hasn’t been the easiest way into Formula 1.

“On my side, as a team-mate and also friend, I tried to support as much as I could on and off the track. So I think I don’t really have much more to say.

“The decision is from the team, we have a lot of drivers as a team, and feel the need to assess the performance of Franco, who did very well last year, and that’s obviously the reason why, also he was brought in, to have this possibility.

“But I think on my side, I like Jack. I like Franco. I think we worked well with Jack and that’s pretty much it.”

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