While competing in F1 is the biggest dream of most aspiring racers, reaching the pinnacle of motorsport can also be the reason for their worst nightmares. With all drivers having thousands of followers (and most in the millions), close tabs are kept on them at all times.
And F1’s fanbase on social media platforms has become quite toxic, developing vitriol against multiple drivers. When things do not go the drivers’ way, they are often slammed and ridiculed, and some such as Jack Doohan have even faced threats online.
With the Australian losing his seat to Franco Colapinto after just six races due to several underwhelming performances this season, it seemed that nothing could get worse for him. But it has, as veteran F1 photojournalist Kym Illman revealed via his Instagram handle.
The Aussie journalist revealed that since the 22-year-old was receiving all sorts of threats online from a minority group of Colapinto fans, Doohan decided to get additional security during last weekend’s race in Miami.
“He was receiving all sorts of threats online,” Illman said. “So much so that he had around-the-clock security in Miami and was planning on keeping that security for the Brazilian Grand Prix”.
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Illman revealed that since only the top drivers such as Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Oscar Piastri, and Lando Norris have security, it was evident that Doohan’s family received some serious threats. The journalist added that since some fans had discovered his personal email address, they sent threats to not just him, but also his girlfriend and father.
Soon after Illman put up this post, 1996 F1 champion Damon Hill came across it and condemned the fans’ behavior immediately. Hill wrote via his Instagram story, “This sucks and we don’t want any of this crap in F1”.
Damon Hill expresses his support for Jack #doohan after a small group of #FrancoColapinto fans sent the Aussie driver all sorts of threats online pic.twitter.com/zoPI9ZgJ79
— Vidit Dhawan (@dhawan_vidit) May 11, 2025
The FIA will most likely take note of this and will try and come up with some measures that protect drivers or anyone else working in the sport from facing such threats. It is fair to say that Colapinto will not endorse what a small group of his fans did as he too could face a similar situation if he fails to deliver for Alpine.
It is understood that the 21-year-old Argentine is given a five-race contract, which means he will have to hit the ground running immediately. In the scenario that Colapinto fails to leave an impression, Doohan could return to the seat.
However, as things stand, it is a trying situation for the Gold Coast-born driver. After all, he has lost his golden chance to make a name for himself in F1 midway through the season. While it is easy to speculate that Doohan could make a return to full-time racing capacity; as of now, that possibility seems far-fetched.
Amid that, he would definitely want to shut down these threats and online trolling by taking some strict measures against it, if it gets out of hand.
