Australia’s sidelined Formula One driver Jack Doohan has called out unruly fans and a social media account that triggered a wave of abuse towards his father Mick and their family.

Doohan, 22, sat out his first race of the season on the weekend after being replaced at Alpine by Argentina’s Franco Colapinto ahead of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.

Colapinto, 21, has a large and passionate social media following and already called on his fans to be respectful before the race — but a fake post set off a disappointing turn of events that Doohan and Alpine have both condemned overnight.

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An anonymous meme account shared a doctored screenshot portraying Mick laughing at Colapinto’s Imola qualifying crash, with the caption “very impressive”.

With no indication that it was doctored beyond the account’s username, the post with the fake image spread across multiple social media platforms before the person behind it deflected blame.

“We’d like to clarify this tweet was a joke, parodying Doohan Sr’s previous comments,” they wrote.

“While many got the joke, it appears some individuals are posting exceptionally distasteful comments regarding the Doohan family. We’d like to once again restate that this account posts FAKE news.”

But the damage was done, prompting Doohan to call out the “completely false” image on social media.

“Please stop harassing my family. I didn’t think I would have to get to this point ... this type of content is so damaging,” he wrote.

Doohan initially assumed the image was created by Argentine fans but later noted its original source, adding “multiple Argentine outlets falsely reported the fabricated image, which triggered the online abuse on my family”.

Alpine shared its own statement afterwards.

“As an F1 team, we believe we are fortunate to be part of a global sport that evokes great passion and emotions, with an ever-growing community of fans who enthusiastically follow their favourite drivers’ every move, whether it be a brave overtake on track or what style they are sporting when they arrive in the paddock,” the team said.

“We encourage everyone to remember that behind the visor of these superhuman athletes there is a personal. 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.”

Colapinto reposted the statement while the anonymous account behind the saga shared an apology to Doohan, describing it as a “wake-up call”.

The Doohan incident followed abuse directed at Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda following a minor run-in with Colapinto.

Tsunoda felt he was impeded by Colapinto and gestured at the Argentine on track, with the Japanese driver copping it on social media.

Colapinto accepted he was at fault and reacted immediately upon being told of the reaction from his fans in a press conference.

“I know they are extremely passionate, and they are always very harsh on people. They have to give respect, and that’s what we all want,” he said.

“There is a lot of hate on social media nowadays. Of course, we always try and want — for all the drivers — to keep it respectful and keep it calm there.”

Tsunoda felt he had followed Doohan as the latest target for Colapinto’s fans, rather than being the victim of personal attacks.

“That’s a bit unnecessary,” said Tsunoda.

“I know they are supporting their own country’s driver, but there’s always a line that they can say something.

“And I’m saying this because not because they say to me, they say too much about Doohan, right? I don’t think he was driving in a comfortable way (before being dropped by Alpine).

“It’s good that they have energy, but just control it. I feel like they can use the energy in a better way.”