Piastri to Doohan: Hold your head up high

While one Australian reigns on top of the Formula 1 world championship, another has been struggling and now is out of a seat.

Doohan has been on the back foot ever since he joined Alpine, with Flavio Briatore bringing on Franco Colapinto as a reserve and plan B.

Eventually, Doohan was shown the door at Enstone after quite some speculation over the course of the Miami Grand Prix, which Piastri won.

Piastri has leapt to the defense of his compatriot, and when he was asked about him just before the decision was announced, he said: "I think if it is the end of the road for Jack, he can be very proud of firstly making it to F1.

"It’s not an easy thing, especially coming from Australia—there’s a lot of hard decisions along the way," the McLaren driver pointed out. "If he has had his final race, I think hold your head up high, you’ve been an F1 driver, and no one can take that away from you."

Piastri also insisted that, even if Doohan doesn't find his way back into an F1 seat, he will have a bright future; he added: "I’m sure he’ll have a successful career in whatever happens."

The exit of Doohan was not the only story coming out of Enstone, as the team's principal, Oliver Oakes, resigned from his position just one day before Colapinto was announced as Doohan's replacement.

Colapinto has been confirmed for five races while Doohan remains in a reserve role. (Quotes from Wide World of Sports show)