Fake post forces axed Aussie to issue desperate plea
The family hired private security at the Miami Grand Prix weekend amid what they believed to be a social media campaign to get Doohan axed.
Moderated by Tomas Kauer 
Dumped Aussie driver Jack Doohan has issued a public plea to "stop harrassing my family" after fake posts were circulated alleging to be made by his famous father.
Doohan, 22, claimed Argentine fans were largely responsible for online abuse directed at he and his family before and after he was replaced by his Formula 1 team Alpine with teammate Franco Colapinto earlier this month.
The family hired private security at the Miami Grand Prix weekend amid what they believed to be a social media campaign to get Doohan axed from his F1 seat.
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He was subsequently dumped by Alpine after crashing on the first lap in Miami.
His father Mick - a five-time MotoGP world champion - later took to Instagram to take a swipe at Alpine over the treatment of his son.
But it seems fake Mick Doohan posts have since been circulated on social media.
Colapinto crashed the Alpine car during qualifying at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at the weekend, and photos of that crash were posted by a fake Mick Doohan account with the words "very impressive" and laughing emojis, leading to more abuse from F1 fans.
On Tuesday morning, Jack took to his own Instagram account to make a stand.
"As you can clearly see, the story circulating above is completely false," he wrote in the first story.
"It was fabricated by Argentine fans attempting to portray me and my family in a negative light.
"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."
He posted a second story saying "this type of content is so damaging" after the fake post was circulated by X account Formulafakers.
After Doohan called out the account, Formulafakers posted again and wrote, "Posting that screenshot was a mistake. The Doohan family does not deserve to be attacked in the way they evidently were for our fake news post.
"We did not expect this post to cause any damage. We deeply, sincerely apologise to the Doohan family. This has been a wake up call on the real, tangible affects of social media. It was never our intent to draw hate towards any driver."
Doohan posted a third Instagram story issuing a correction.
"The source is not Argentine," he said.https://twitter.com/formulafakers/status/1924528271104082104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
"However multiple Argentine outlets falsely reported the fabricated image which triggered the online abuse on my family."
Alpine released its own statement on Tuesday morning.
"We encourage everyone to remember that behind the visor of these superhuman athletes there is a person," it said.
"An individual with feelings, family, friends, and loved ones. As a team we cannot condone online abuse and urge all fans of this sport we love to be kind and respectful."
Doohan's future in F1 is uncertain after he was "rotated" out of the seat by Alpine.
"Having reviewed the opening races of the season, we have come to the decision to put Franco in the car alongside Pierre for the next five races," team adviser Flavio Briatore said after the Miami disaster.
"The next five races will give us an opportunity to try something different and after this time period we will assess our options."
