Jack Doohan “poor drive” myth exposed, Alpine told to defend him

A fierce defence of Alpine driver Jack Doohan was launched in Bahrain.

Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft jumped to the defence of rookie Doohan who is remarkably already under pressure to keep his seat.

Since being named as Alpine’s driver for 2025, the team signed the highly-rated Franco Colapinto as their reserve driver. Unconfirmed rumours suggest Colapinto and Doohan could swap roles within a few races.

Doohan answered the media’s questions about his race seat defensively in Bahrain.

Sky Sports’ Craig Slater said: “There are six rookies but are any under more pressure than him? He had to deal with questions about Franco Colapinto joining the team.

“I’ve been speaking to a couple of people who reckon he enjoyed that, he enjoyed getting punchy with the media.

“Maybe that lit his fire ahead of the season.”

Jack Doohan 'poor drive' rejected

Doohan drove for Alpine in the 2024 F1 season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

He finished 15th and didn’t particularly catch the eye.

But Crofty insisted: “I’m going to stand up for Doohan.

“I thought he was unlucky in Abu Dhabi. In the first runs in qualifying he was a tenth off Pierre Gasly, and there’s no disgrace in that.

“He then got sent out into traffic, his tyres cooled, lost grip. He started lower than he was going to.

“The instruction was to bring the car home and keep it safe.

“What looked like a poor drive was just doing as the team asked.

“Flavio Briatore or Ollie Oakes need to come out and say ‘Doohan is our man for the year’.

“If they do that, the speculation stops.”

Team principal Oakes admitted the scrutiny on Doohan was “not fair”.

But, Colapinto remains in the background as an option for Alpine to swap into their team.

The season begins at the Australian Grand Prix - Doohan’s home race - on March 16.