15/05/2025
NEWS STORY
Oliver Bearman and Isack Hadjar have leapt to the defence of fellow rookie Jack Doohan after he was dropped by Alpine.
Before a wheel had even turned this season the Australian was effectively a dead man walking after Alpine signed Argentine hotshot Franco Colapinto as its reserve driver.
From the outset, Flavio Briatore added to the pressure on the young rookie by refusing to confirm his seat was safe, while 'fans' of Colapinto ramped up the pressure on social media.
Finally, after Miami, and following a sponsor's hot-mic claim - strongly denied by the French team - that Doohan was toast, the team admitted that Colapinto would partner Pierre Gasly for the next five races.
Speaking at Imola today, fellow rookies Bearman and Hadjar spoke out over their colleague's treatment.
"I can only imagine it's a horrible situation," said Bearman, "and I feel like his treatment was very unfair.
"We've gone to four out of six tracks that have been new to us as rookies," he continued. "We've had two sprint events which are even more difficult for us as rookies. Before he even gets to the European season where there are the tracks he knows, he's already thrown out of the car. So, yeah. Incredibly harsh. Imagine."
"Even before the season, it smelled a bit bad, because I think he entered the season with a lot of pressure, expectations," added Hadjar, who himself started the season with Yuki Tsunoda as teammate but is now partnered by Liam Lawson after the Kiwi was demoted after just two races.
"Not a really good environment," added the RB driver. "And it feels quite unfair, because six races in, he didn't have much time to show anything, and it's not that he had a rocket ship as well. So, yeah, a bit harsh.
"I didn't have a gun to my head before starting the season, so that was definitely helpful," he admitted. "I can understand when you're Red Bull, you want to fight for the world championship, so this makes sense maybe in the top team. But otherwise if you want your rookie to have experience, then you need to give him races. Otherwise he can't race."
"It's very cut-throat," said Lawson. "In his first season I think he did enough for sure even before F1 to be in Formula One in the first place. He deserves to come back. There's twenty seats, it's very tough."
Meanwhile, Colapinto played down talk of his 'five race trial'.
"I have a great opportunity ahead," said the youngster. "I'm happy to be back in F1, I don't even think about the five races.
"I'm in a happy place and I'm dealing with it very well," he added. "I think at the moment I just want to get back in the seat and drive.
"Of course, after you heard Carlos (Sainz) and especially Carlos, I think, saying that he needs like ten races to get used to the car, I think five is not enough for me. If I even drove nine in all my life in F1.
"Yeah, it probably takes me a few more races, probably a couple more than five to get up to speed and maximise everything out of the car. But it is what I have. "I just want to maximise it, enjoy it and try to do the best for the team."