Jack Doohan refuses to be intimidated by continuing speculation over his future at Alpine.

Before a wheel had even turned, the Australian's seat appeared to be under threat following the signing of Argentine hot-shot Franco Colapinto as reserve driver.

A situation pushed hard on social media and egged on by the media, was hardly helped by Flavio Briatore's refusal to dismiss the speculation and instead, courtesy of his refusal to give any sort of assurances, was made worse.

Talking in Miami, Doohan says that not only has he ignored the speculation, he praised Briatore for his support.

"To be honest, the worst of it was in January, pre-season, when there was the most noise," the Australian told reporters. "There was nothing else going on," he continued. "It was the talk of the town.

"There was a new narrative each weekend. However, very quickly I knew what was irrelevant and what wasn't true and just focused on my job. To be honest, on top of everything, even in the difficult times, I didn't really ever feel affected by it.

"I had a good group of people around me," he said. "The team were also very supportive. I never had that or felt that on the back of my mind.

"For sure, there's always going to be noise," he admitted. "But I was more just focused on being as focused as I can in the car, rather than thinking about anything external.

"Potentially, since this topic's been around for so long, by the time the season got started, maybe I was already immune to it. If it might have started just a couple of days before Melbourne, it might have hindered me more."

Referring to Briatore, he said: He's someone that I've looked up to for a very, very long time. I love him being brutal and very to the point where there's no B.S., there's no mucking around. You find out what's going on very, very quickly. I prefer that much more than Chinese whispers.

"Things were clear in what was happening," he continued. "He was just wanting me to do well, and the best would happen. Saying forget about the noise, forget about what's going on. Just do the best that I possibly can.

"Things are always out there for a reason. Nothing gets out by mistake. So I think it was just keeping my head down and doing my job, and knowing what's real and what's not."