Jack Doohan hailed the “no BS” approach of Alpine Executive Advisor Flavio Briatore when asked to comment on the persistent rumours surrounding his place in Formula 1.
Since pre-season, Doohan has been dogged by speculation that reserve driver Franco Colapinto will poach his seat.
Briatore is a well-known admirer of Colapinto and has a history of being ruthless with drivers, but Doohan has welcomed the Italian’s approach to matters at Alpine.
Doohan is clear as to where he stands with Briatore, and that has helped him focus on the job at hand.
“[Flavio is] someone that I’ve looked up to for a very, very long time,” Doohan told select media including Motorsport Week in Miami.
“And I love the brutal and very to the point way. There’s no BS. There’s no mucking around.
“You find out what’s going on very, very quickly. I prefer that much more than Chinese whispers.”
Briatore’s approach has helped Doohan maintain a clear picture of the circumstances at Alpine.
“Things were clear in what was happening,” Doohan continued.
“And he’s just wanting me to do well and the best will happen and forget about the noise, forget about what’s going on, just do the best that I possibly can.
“Things are always out there for a reason. Nothing gets out by mistake.
“So I think it was just keeping my head down and doing my job and knowing what’s real and what’s not.”
Doohan coping with the noise surrounding Franco Colapinto and Alpine
Recent speculation surfaced recently pointing towards Colapinto taking Doohan’s seat for the event after the Miami Grand Prix, Imola.
YPF CEO Horacio Marin was repeatedly questioned on the A24 news channel when Colapinto, who the Argentine company backs, would be making his debut.
Marin dodged the questions but could be heard just as the interview cut to a commercial break, uttering “Imola.”
Marin has since backtracked on those comments, telling LN+ “What I’m saying is that I hope he races at Imola and if it happens, he will call me.”
Still, this is just the latest instalment in a media saga claiming Doohan is on borrowed time, but the Australian has taken it in his stride.
“To be honest, the worst of it was in January, pre-season, when there was the most noise, nothing else going on,” he said.
“There was the talk of the town. But I think, you know, there was a new narrative each weekend, and very quickly I knew what was irrelevant and what wasn’t true and just focused on my job.
“And to be honest, on top of everything, and even in the difficult times, I didn’t really ever feel affected by it.
“I had a good group of people around me. The team were also very supportive.
“So it never really – I never had that or felt that on the back of my mind. For sure, there’s always going to be noise. But I was more just focused on being as focused as I can in the car rather than thinking about anything external, which, potentially since this topic’s been around for so long, by the time the season got started, maybe I was already so immune to it, whereas if it had started just a couple of days before Melbourne, it might have hindered me more.”
Doohan has yet to finish higher than 13th in a GP so far, albeit with Alpine not having the cleanest run of form.
A costly crash in FP2 at the Japanese GP also spoke to Doohan’s inexperience, but he doesn’t feel “there’s a target” on him.
“I think it’s just circumstantial,” he said.
“I don’t think there’s a target towards me. It’s just how it’s played out.
“I don’t take anything personally. I just think this is our sport. This is how it is for my time right now. And for sure I’ll benefit from it more than anything else.”
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