Formula 1

Jack Doohan crashes hard at Suzuka as FP2 session is red-flagged

April 5, 2025

Alpine driver Jack Doohan crashed during the second practice session during the Japanese Grand Prix weekend.

The Australian driver crashed into the wall at Turn 1 on his fourth lap of the session with an impact at approximately 160 mph. At this stage, it is not clear what caused the crash as it didn’t look like driver error. However, there is a strong tailwind into that corner, and the general consensus points towards the car bottoming out at the entry to the corner.

Doohan quickly confirmed that he was okay and he managed to get out of the car unassisted.

This could not be worse timing for Doohan as he stepped out of the first practice session to allow Toyota WEC driver Ryo Hirakawa to take the wheel as part of the rookie testing obligations for each team. Doohan will now have just the third and final practice session tomorrow to get to grips with the car and a track he hasn’t got experience on ahead of qualifying.

Jack Doohan, Alpine

Photo by: Mohd Rasfan – AFP – Getty Images

Former F1 driver and Sky Sports analyst Anthony Davidson commented during the broadcast:

“I think the car might have just bottomed out. I know these cars are capable of taking that corner flat out on the approach. It doesn’t look like a driver error. If it wasn’t having his DRS open, the car just bottomed so heavily.

“Sainz complained earlier that the rear of his car didn’t feel right at Spoon Curve and Turn 1 is a lot faster than Spoon. It looked to me like he was just a passenger there.”

He added: “He’s very gingerly stepping out. He says he’s OK but that’s shaken him up I think.”