Formula One championship leader Oscar Piastri has expressed his sympathy for fellow Australian Jack Doohan, the rookie driver who looks set to be dropped by the Alpine team before next week's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
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The resignation of Oliver Oakes and his replacement by Flavio Briatore as Alpine team principal on Tuesday has only further fuelled speculation that Argentina's Franco Colapinto will come into the team at Doohan's expense for Imola.
"Coming to F1, especially as a rookie under pressure, I do feel sorry for him in some ways," McLaren driver Piastri told ABC television from England on Wednesday.
"It's not been the easiest start to the year for him and I know how hard it is to get to F1 in the first place.
"So I think whatever happens, he can be very proud of the journey so far."
While Doohan is 19th in the drivers' standings after two retirements and a best finish of 14th in his first six grands prix, Piastri is 16 points clear at the top in the wake of four wins in the first six rounds.
A third successive win at Miami at the weekend has fired expectations back home that Piastri will become the first Australian world champion since Alan Jones in 1980.
The 24-year-old, who was born and raised in Melbourne, made it clear that he was not about to get carried away by the hype.
"It's still incredibly early in the season, we're only 25 per cent of the way through," he said.
"The position we're in is nice, the race wins we've had are nice, but I think the effort and the hard work that's gone on behind the scenes to achieve all that is what I'm most satisfied with.
"There's still some things to improve and not everything's gone exactly how I wanted it, but I'm excited for what the rest of the season has to come."