Shocking details emerge in Jack Doohan Formula One sacking saga
There has been a fresh twist in the Jack Doohan F1 sacking saga with the sport's top photographer Kym Illman revealing how much strain the young Aussie driver was under before his final race in Miami.
Illman said Doohan had been dealing with horrible online threats all year — largely from Argentine F1 fans who wanted to see their countryman Franco Colapinto promoted — but also revealed that more sinister attacks were at play.
The Doohans, Mick and Jack, and Jack's low-profile Australian girlfriend Ebony Zippora Gold were all involved and all had 'real concerns' as the threats became more serious.
In fact, as the attackers homed in, Jack had become so concerned he hired around-the-clock security during the Miami Grand Prix which was ultimately his last for the Renault-owned Alpine team.
'He was receiving all sorts of threats online so much so that he had around-the-clock security in Miami and was planning on keeping that security for the Brazilian Grand Prix,' Illman said on Instagram.
'Out of all the drivers, it's really only Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri that have full-time security.
'It was plain to see by those close to the Aussie that those threats weighed heavily on him.
'People had discovered his personal email address and were sending email threats which resulted in Jack, his girlfriend and even his father holding real concerns for their safety in Miami and on top of that, Jack's sleep was affected.
'I'm certain Franco wouldn't be endorsing any of that behaviour from what is a minority of his fanbase.'
Illman said Jack had the 'Franco threat' hanging over his head for every moment of his short time with Alpine.
'He was constantly quizzed about his future by the media and don't doubt that that gets to a driver,' he said.
He also noted that Jack eventually disabled comments on his Insta page, and pointed out that most of those comments were coming from trolls who had Argentina and Spanish flags in their bio.
'That's normally a pretty good sign something is up,' he said.
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