Australian driver Jack Doohan of Alpine. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Australian driver Jack Doohan has appealed for an end to the harassment of his family after a fake social media post purported to be from his father was shared widely online.
Doohan, whose father Mick won five motorcycling world titles, is a reserve driver at the Alpine team after being replaced by Franco Colapinto six races into his debut Formula 1 season earlier this month.
The fake post made fun of Argentinean Colapinto's crash in qualifying for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix last weekend, his first outing since replacing Doohan.
"As you can clearly see, the story circulating above is completely false," Doohan posted on social media.
"They edited the original content to make it appear as though my father posted it, which is entirely untrue.
"Please stop harassing my family. I didn't think it would have to get to this point."
Doohan initially blamed Argentinian fans for the fake post, but later clarified this assertion after those responsible for mocking up the image apologised and took it down.
Colapinto last weekend urged his fans to show respect to other drivers after he accidentally blocked Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda in the first Friday practice at Imola.
The Japanese driver received a series of insulting comments online, many of them in Spanish, and suggested Formula 1 organisers might need to step in to curtail the abuse.
- Reuters
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