Jack Doohan says he received death threats before he was dropped by F1 team Alpine

Then-Alpine driver Jack Doohan of Australia walks through the paddock ahead of the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

LONDON — Jack Doohan says he received death threats and had to call police to resolve an encounter with armed men around the time of last year’s Miami Grand Prix, just before he lost his Formula 1 drive with Alpine.

The Australian driver said in the latest series of Netflix documentary “Drive To Survive”, released Friday, that he had been threatened by email, describing the atmosphere around what proved to be his final race as “pretty heavy stuff.”

Doohan made his debut for Alpine in the last race of 2024 and was dropped and replaced by Franco Colapinto after Miami, the sixth race of 2025. He’s now a reserve driver for Haas.

“I got serious death threats for this Grand Prix, saying they’re going to kill me here if I’m not out of the car,” Doohan said in the documentary. “I had six or seven emails saying if I’m still in the car by Miami, that I’ll be, you know, all my limbs will be cut off.”

Doohan also described an incident where he saw three “armed men,” adding that “I had to call my police escort to come get it under control.”

He didn’t specify how that incident was resolved, and he didn’t identify anyone responsible.

After Colapinto replaced him at Alpine in May, Doohan posted on social media that he and his family had been facing online abuse, and indicated at the time that fans from Colapinto’s home country of Argentina were responsible.

The duo were the only two drivers in F1 last season not to score a point as Alpine finished last in the constructors’ standings.

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The Associated Press