Alpine has explained that Jack Doohan’s scary Turn 1 crash during second practice at the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix came from failure to close his Drag Reduction System.
Doohan brought out the first of four red flags in FP2 at Suzuka on Friday when his Alpine A525 violently spun out at Turn 1, careening into the barriers.
The Australian was hoping to make up for lost time, having handed over his Alpine to Ryo Hirakawa during opening practice.
Instead, a high-force impact ended his Friday running after just four laps, but thankfully, checks in the medical center proved Doohan wasn’t injured during the incident.
Alpine Team Principal Oliver Oakes confirmed that the young driver’s shunt was down to a DRS mishap.
“We are all relieved to see Jack walk away from his incident in Free Practice 2 and glad to see he is okay after his precautionary checks,” he said.
“It was a misjudgement of not closing the DRS into Turn 1. It is something to learn from.
“I know Jack and the team will be ready for tomorrow. His crew will work hard to have the car prepared after the damage.”
It’s an unfortunate setback for the Australian in just his fourth GP weekend, with speculation continuing to swirl regarding his F1 future.
The son of MotoGP legend Mick Doohan has qualifying Saturday and the race on Sunday to make up for the crash, still in search of securing the first points for Alpine.
Doohan ‘driving under desperation’ – Villeneuve
Speaking ahead of Oakes’ confirmation, 1997 F1 Drivers’ champion Jacques Villeneuve critiqued Doohan’s efforts.
The Canadian attributed the crash to ‘driving under desperation’ due to “tremendous pressure by Flavio [Briatore].”
Villeneuve commented: “The problem is, he’s known before the first race that he probably would not finish this season.”
“He’s been put under tremendous pressure by Flavio mainly, with [Reserve Driver Franco] Colapinto there in the wing, and the writing was on the wall.
“And his driving has been one of desperation, having to prove that he’s at least better than [Pierre] Gasly, so they should keep him.
“When he’s already been told that, ‘Look, you do a few races, but then you’ll probably be replaced, ’ and you can see it in his driving. It’s not comfortable. It’s really not comfortable.
“And when the driver is in that situation, even, psychologically, the driving will not be natural and small mistakes will start happening.”
Speaking after the scary incident, Doohan said, “First of all, I am okay after the incident. It was a heavy one, something that caught me by surprise, and I will learn from it.
“I know the team has a lot of work ahead to repair the car going into tomorrow, so thanks in advance to them for their efforts.
“My focus is on tomorrow where we will have Free Practice 3 to get ready for Qualifying.”
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