Formula 1 driver Jack Doohan has revealed he received death threats and was forced to call police to intervene in an encounter with armed men around last year’s Miami Grand Prix.
These alarming events occurred just before the Australian driver lost his Formula 1 drive with Alpine.
Doohan shared his unsettling experience in the latest series of the Netflix documentary Drive To Survive, released on Friday, characterising the atmosphere around what proved to be his final race as “pretty heavy stuff”.
In the documentary, Doohan explicitly detailed the nature of the threats. “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,” he stated.
He further elaborated: “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.”
Beyond the digital threats, Doohan also recounted a physical incident where he encountered three “armed men”, necessitating a call to his security detail.
“I had to call my police escort to come get it under control,” he explained, though he did not specify how the situation was resolved or identify those responsible.
The incidents coincided with a pivotal moment in Doohan’s career. Having made his debut for Alpine in the final race of the 2024 season, he was subsequently dropped and replaced by Franco Colapinto after the Miami event, which marked the sixth race of the 2025 calendar.
Doohan currently holds a reserve driver position for Haas. Following Colapinto’s appointment in May, Doohan publicly addressed the online abuse he and his family had been enduring, suggesting at the time that fans from Colapinto’s home country of Argentina were responsible.
Both Doohan and Colapinto were notable as the only two drivers in F1 last season who failed to secure any points, with Alpine finishing last in the constructors’ standings.
