Why Jack Doohan was ‘upset’ by Miami Grand Prix Neflix interaction after public telling off from Alpine chief

Alpine look set to make the second driver swap of the 2025 Formula 1 season as Jack Doohan could be about to lose his race seat to reserve driver Franco Colapinto.

After Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda’s switch kicked off the F1 driver market far sooner than anyone expected, Alpine appear to be the next team to blink.

The Miami Grand Prix was another tough outing for Jack Doohan, as he failed to reach the end of the first lap.

Although the Sprint Race didn’t go to plan after a Q1 exit and P16 finish, Sunday’s race looked like it was going to be much more positive.

Doohan outqualified teammate Pierre Gasly but he immediately got unstuck at the first corner.

He collided with Lawson and the damage Doohan suffered meant he limped out of the race a few corners later, while the Racing Bulls driver eventually retired as well.

Ted Kravitz saw Doohan being consoled after Sunday’s race, but journalist Scott Mitchell-Malm spotted the 22-year-old having a much tougher time in the Miami paddock.

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Mitchell-Malm was speaking on The Race F1 Podcast about Doohan’s race weekend and how it immediately resurfaced rumours about his long-term F1 future.

F1 Oversteer understands Doohan and Franco Colapinto are set to be swapped imminently, with the Argentine likely to be in the car in time for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Talking about what he saw in the paddock, Mitchell-Malm said, “It’s been a tense weekend for Doohan, he was very frustrated and upset after Sprint qualifying on Friday when he felt that he’d been basically cost a chance of any kind of result there by Alpine and the way they released the cars from the garage which I’m not sure was fully right, but he got very emotional over the radio.

“I think he got told off in public view by Oli Oakes in hospitality, it’s certainly what I was seeing.

“And I think he was also getting a bit upset at the fact that the Netflix cameras descended on him on the way back straight away and were quite in his face.

“The Netflix cameras also chased Oakes out of the paddock on Sunday evening as he left a bit early to go and get the flight.

“So, there was a lot of attention on the Alpine camp this weekend and it doesn’t mean there’s definitely going to be a change, but having been told on the record and off the record a couple of races ago that Doohan was safe for a bit longer certainly until the summer, it now looks like a change is back on the agenda after all.”

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Oliver Oakes coy about Jack Doohan’s future amid disappointing Miami Grand Prix for Alpine

It was a race weekend that never looked like getting started for Alpine, with Gasly off the pace throughout.

Doohan’s performance in qualifying would have been the highlight had his French teammate not benefitted from several penalties to score a point in the Sprint Race despite crossing the line in 12th.

After Sunday’s race, Oakes said in his official press conference, “We leave Miami disappointed where ultimately, we lacked performance to be competitive enough to fight for points.

“Pierre was not happy with how the car felt in qualifying and given his starting position we opted to make changes to his car and start from the pitlane.

“Jack’s race unfortunately ended on the first lap after contact with Lawson at Turn 1. We have some time now between races to understand where we can improve and come back with some more performance for the European triple-header starting in Imola.”

Oakes’ lack of comment on any of the positive signs in Doohan’s race weekend may be a clue as to how Alpine’s internal discussions are going to end for the Australian.

Renault boss Luca de Meo is a fan of Franco Colapinto and Flavio Briatore appears to be on the side of the young Argentine as well, which might be the decisive blow for Doohan.