Mick Doohan has defended his son Jack after the young Asutralain was demoted by Alpine in favour of Franco Colapinto.

Alpine confirmed a decision that many had long seen coming with Colapinto replacing Doohan who failed to score a point in his six races with the team.

Mick Doohan raises Pierre Gasly comparison in Jack Doohan defence

On Wednesday, Alpine announced Colapinto would partner Pierre Gasly from Imola onwards having made an “ongoing assessment” of their river lineup.

Doohan, who had to face questions of a six-race contract even before the season started, was moved to a reserve while Colapinto has been given just five races to prove his worth.

Now Mick Doohan has signalled his unhappiness at the move by posting an Instagram story showing the results of his son versus Gasly.

The Frenchman has scored seven points to Doohan’s zero while Gasly’s worst result of P13 represents Doohan’s best.

It comes in a week of upheaval that saw team principal Ollie Oakes walk out on the team, leaving Flavio Brtiatore to take the reigns of a team he resigned from in 2009 after cheating.

Briatore said the move was due to the “field being so closely matched this year.”

“Having reviewed the opening races of the season, we have come to the decision to put Franco in the car alongside Pierre for the next five races,” said Briatore.

“With the field being so closely matched this year, and with a competitive car, which the team has drastically improved in the past 12 months, we are in a position where we see the need to rotate our line-up.”

Alpine are believed to have paid a fee of €4.5m (£3.8m) to sign Colapinto from Williams with the Argentine expected to bring a number of endorsements to the team.

During his stint at Williams, Colapinto started brightly, scoring points in two of his opening four aces, but faded as the season drew to a close. He ended the year for three retirements in the last four races.

More on the Jack Doohan/Franco Colapinto switch

‘Pretty significant’ cash and ‘Netflix’ clues in Alpine driver swap

Jack Doohan speaks out after losing Alpine seat to Franco Colapinto

Jack Doohan meanwhile must now figure out how to rebuild his career following his early sacking. The Australian received support from his compatriot Oscar Piastri who said Doohan would have “a successful career in whatever happens.”

“I’ve literally just seen that the team principal has gone,” Piastri began on Wide World of Sports.

“I mean, I’ve not heard it officially that Jack’s out, but I’ve obviously seen the talk. I think if it is the end of the road for Jack, I think he can be very proud of, firstly, making it to Formula 1, you know. It’s not an easy thing, especially coming from Australia. There’s a lot of hard decisions along the way.

“So, if he has had his final race, then, I think hold your head up high, you’ve been an F1 driver and no one can take that away from you.

“So, you know, I’m sure he’ll have a successful career in whatever happens.”

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