Outside Line: Are Alpine F1 Team sabotaging Doohan?

Doohan was cruelly made to sit out of FP1 by Alpine in Japan, one of the most daunting tracks on the planet, denying him valuable track time while a pay 'reserve' driver (who left the team a couple of days later!) got a meaningless shot around Suzuka for an hour while jack watched. Then, when he finally got in the car, and of course, reports show Jack crashed early in FP2.

This injustice, inexplicably accepted by the FIA despite the dangers of denying rookies track time at venues where they’ve never driven an F1 car, remains baffling. I was livid and still am when I think about it! For me, it was a "scumbag" move by the team. I stand by what I wrote: Whoever ordered Doohan to sit out is a scumbag of the highest order.

There is no proof that Flavio Briatore ordered the Suzuka FP1 sit-out, but what is known is that the Alpine special advisor did sign Franco Colapinto from Williams—and not to have him sit around watching from the garage. He is wanted in that seat.

That Suzuka saga was as close to sabotage as it gets, in my opinion. Now, after a dropped ball in Qualifying for the Miami Sprint Race, again, Doohan did not have 'his' team on his side. He thought so too; he was furious. We all saw it.

Over the team radio, Doohan fumed: "That's not acceptable. If you're going to send [Gasly] after me, you have to make sure he's ready, or before me. I can't turn out and then have to turn out because he's going to run into me. And then you guys put me out of Q1. That's a joke!" Jack was right.

Later toned down severely by Alpine F1 spin doctors, this is what Doohan reported in the team's Friday review: “Of course, from the result, it was not the end to Sprint Qualifying we were hoping for. The feeling in the car was good and we felt good heading into the session.

“On the final run, we lost places in the queue in the pitlane with the car having to be pushed back by the mechanics, which meant we were out of position and chasing to make it to the line in time. It’s frustrating not to be able to put in a second fast lap, particularly with the improvement in lap time we saw and the potential in the car. It’s something we’ll review and debrief as a team on.

"We will look to maximise what is possible in the Sprint Race to move through the order and learn as much as we can ahead of the rest of the weekend. We also have tomorrow’s Qualifying where we will aim to set ourselves up well for the race on Sunday,” added Doohan, but what do his team have in store for him after the silliness in Miami on Friday?

In SQ1, and all sessions for that matter, Alpine should have their rookie pounding out as many laps as possible. Get him out earlier than everyone else. He needs the track time without the pressure of last-minute dashes to beat the clock. But Alpine failed Doohan again.

It appears the main focus is clearly on Pierre Gasly, making the lead Alpine work, with Doohan seemingly an extra in the show—waiting to get pulled so Colapinto can take to the stage. In fact, that stage could be Imola, if some reports are to be believed.

When asked about a report that emerged in the Argentine media, team boss Oakes was evasive on the Doohan-Colapinto situation: “I saw it, like everyone else. I think it was a sponsor from Argentina off-camera giving his view on Franco, when he’s going to be in the car.

“I’m sure there are a lot of people in Argentina who’d like him in the car this Sunday. We’ve been pretty open as a team that that’s just noise. Jack needs to continue doing a good job. But it’s natural that there’s always speculation there,” he explained.

During the FIA-hosted team reps' press conference in Miami, when asked to confirm that Doohan will be in the Alpine at Imola, Oakes replied with a swerved ball: “Yeah, as it is today, Jack is our driver along with Pierre. We’ve been pretty clear on that. We always evaluate, but yeah, today, that is the case.” What about tomorrow? What about Imola?

Word in the F1 paddock is that Doohan has come up with $10 million to stay in the Alpine F1 seat, while the waterfall of sponsorship money from Argentina, predicted when Colapinto went viral, has, according to gossip, not materialised. Until it does, Jack's in the car. So give the lad a decent chance!