Japanese GP: Alpine's Jack Doohan escapes heavy crash in F1 practice

Dominika Jordan
Apr 4, 2025, 02:57 AM ET

Doohan survives high-speed crash in Japan GP practice; Alpine assesses damage ahead of Saturday’s sessions.

Red Bull Racing/Red Bull Content Pool

SUZUKA, Japan - Alpine rookie Jack Doohan experienced a major crash during the second practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix on Friday. The incident, which occurred five laps into the session, saw Doohan spin out at high speed on his approach to Turn 1.

The Australian driver's car sustained significant damage, with both left-side wheels torn off upon impact. Despite the severity of the crash, Doohan managed to climb out of the car, though he walked gingerly away with the assistance of two track marshals.

When contacted by his team to check on his condition, Doohan responded, "I'm OK, yeah. What happened?"

According to Formula 1 regulations, Doohan will undergo a precautionary medical check-up. Alpine team principal Oliver Oakes attributed the crash to Doohan's failure to close the DRS (Drag Reduction System) as he entered Turn 1.

"We are all relieved to see Jack walk away from his incident in free practice two and glad to see he is OK after his precautionary checks," Oakes said on Friday afternoon. "It was a misjudgment of not closing the DRS into Turn 1. It is something to learn from and I know Jack and the team will be ready for tomorrow. His crew will work hard to have the car prepared after the damage."

A few hours after the crash, Doohan reflected on the incident, stating, "First of all, I am OK 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 three to get ready for qualifying."

Doohan's future in Formula 1 appears to be under scrutiny. The signing of Argentine driver Franco Colapinto to a reserve driver role at Alpine earlier this year has fueled speculation about an in-season replacement. Sources have informed ESPN that the switch may occur in time for the Miami Grand Prix in May.

Doohan's crash happened during his first practice session of the weekend, as he had ceded his car to Japanese driver Ryo Hirakawa, another Alpine reserve driver, for the first session. Should Doohan be unable to participate in the remainder of the weekend, Hirakawa is the most likely candidate to step in at Suzuka.

Oakes offered praise for Hirakawa, stating, "From a performance point of view today, there are some things for us to work on. Pierre [Gasly] had a good run in free practice two, which bodes well for tomorrow, as did Ryo, who did a great job to run through the program this morning. We tried some set-up options between cars and we have a good direction to go in ahead of qualifying."

With Doohan's focus now set on recovering and preparing for Saturday's free practice and qualifying, all eyes will be on how both he and the Alpine team rebound from this incident.