"It's nonsense, it's absolutely nonsense": F1 insider blasts Alpine's treatment of Jack Doohan

F1 commentator Jolyon Palmer lashed out at Alpine for sacking rookie Jack Doohan just six races into the 2025 season. He argued that his firing was inevitable, no matter how he performed.

Doohan was shown the exit doors by Alpine after the Miami GP, as he failed to score a single point in the first six races. Franco Colapinto replaced him, but his contract is also valid for the next five races, which are from the Imola GP to the Austrian GP.

However, F1 commentator Jolyon Palmer was furious with Alpine's decision-making. During the FP1 session of the Imola GP, he empathized with Doohan, saying the rookie wasn't treated fairly. Palmer explained that the Aussie driver's pace was close to Gasly's, and despite outqualifying the latter in Miami, Doohan faced the axe.

Palmer claimed that Jack Doohan was perhaps destined to lose his seat to Colapinto irrespective of his performance in the first six races.

"It's nonsense, isn't it? It's absolute nonsense. A five-race try to come in mid-season to prove yourself. It's not how I would run a Formula 1 team. But I feel bad for Jack Doohan. He's just outqualified Pierre Gasly for the first time in Miami. Gasly has only finished in the points once in a Grand Prix, and that was P7 in Bahrain, where he was very good, and Doohan was running in the top 10 for a while," Palmer said. (via F1 TV).

"But Jack's a rookie who has come in under massive pressure, and generally his qualifying pace has been quite close, and that's the toughest thing to find. The rest you can build up from time to time. Overall, I feel bad for Jack, who has been shuffled out for Colapinto in a move that's basically been entirely inevitable no matter what Doohan did. That's what happened in Miami. He was quick and got booted out anyway," he added.

Jolyon Palmer also said that the five-race contract given to Colapinto doesn't make sense at all.

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Jack Doohan gets support from F1 colleagues after getting fired by Alpine

Isack Hadjar, Jack Doohan and Liam Lawson at F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain - Source: Getty

Despite losing his seat to Franco Colapinto, Jack Doohan got plenty of support from his former colleagues on the grid. At the Imola GP, Esteban Ocon, Liam Lawson, Yuki Tsunoda, Oscar Piastri, Oliver Bearman, and many more backed Doohan. A lot of drivers slammed Alpine for mistreating Doohan, calling his sacking an 'unfair' decision.

Lawson, for instance, opined that Doohan proved himself enough in the first six races and deserved to stay. On the other hand, Piastri advised the rookie Aussie driver to be proud of breaking into Formula 1. Ocon, meanwhile, suggested that Doohan will be back in F1 at some point in the future.

For now, Jack Doohan will stay with Alpine as reserve driver while Franco Colapinto auditions for a permanent seat in the next five races.