On Thursday afternoon, amidst all the trucks in the paddock, I happened to witness a photo and film session with Franco Colapinto, who replaced Jack Doohan at Alpine from Imola. The Australian was sidelined by Flavio Briatore after six races, an Italian who once made cheating the norm and initially received a lifetime ban from Formula 1 for it.
Liam Lawson undoubtedly had his thoughts about it, but kept them to himself. The New Zealander, who was demoted to the training team by Red Bull after two races earlier this year, could have shaken hands with Doohan: both weighed, (temporarily) found wanting, and damaged. Because what happened to the pair does not look very good on their resumes.
There is hardly a more ruthless sport than motor racing. Everywhere you see, hear, and smell the presence of big money: the popular binder on which modern Formula 1 floats. Although the ten racing teams are worth a fortune due to the global success of the sport, it is, as usual in the world of the rich, never enough. Materialism in Formula 1 takes precedence over humanity, almost no one shows mercy. Look at Liam Lawson and Doohan, young twenty-somethings.
‘Money always comes into play’
Now there are people, I had a short discussion about it at the office last week with our esteemed columnist and regular podcast guest Jeroen Bleekemolen, who say: every driver knows from a young age what snake pit he is stepping into, how ruthless the road to the top is and what the unwritten laws of motor racing are. One of them is that the stopwatch never lies, another that nothing is what it seems.
All true. But is Lawson really mentally unfit, as Red Bull judged? Is Doohan a bungler who can’t handle a mediocre car? These boys have been in the training trajectory of both F1 teams for years. Then you would expect that the correct analysis has been made before they are thrown to the lions. But then, money always comes into play. Honda pays a few extra millions to get protégé Yuki Tsunoda in the Red Bull, and Alpine in Imola can’t resist the temptation of millions in Argentine sponsorship money from Colapinto.
A Cheater from the Past
The announced departure of Doohan, which had been hanging over his head even before the season, is indicative of the total lack of ethics and empathy in Formula 1. An all-powerful advisor, who was once banned for life after causing one of the biggest scandals in Formula 1 history (look up: Crashgate & Flavio Briatore, Singapore 2008), unceremoniously drops a driver he had openly praised in the Netflix series Drive to Survive in Imola. Not because the successor is much better, but due to commercial interests. The aim is to further explore and serve the interesting Argentine market. It wouldn’t surprise me if Briatore is preparing Alpine for sale.
Franco Colapinto, who is returning to the grid in Imola, is given five races to prove himself, while according to Alpine, Doohan’s role is far from over. However, I don’t think we’ll ever see Doohan back on the F1 grid. Because Cash is King, even if the dollars are sloshing against the skirting boards. Enough is never enough.
