Cause of Doohan’s horror crash revealed as driver error

Jack Doohan narrowly avoided injury after finding himself a passenger in a 300km/h crash during FP2 of the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix, with Alpine Team Principal Oliver Oakes revealing the cause of the incident was a “misjudgment” by the rookie.

Shocking the pitlane as he flew into the tyre barriers at a rapid pace, Doohan experienced one of the biggest impacts of his career, bringing an end to his already reduced Friday campaign and causing significant delays for the entire field.

Just four laps into the afternoon practice session in Japan, Doohan suffered a moment that, at first glance, looked to be caused by either the gusty tailwind down the main straight or his A525 simply bottoming out.

The team instantly kicked into gear, running over the data to decipher whether the incident was sparked by a mechanical or technical error, only to discover Doohan’s “misjudgement of not closing the DRS into Turn 1” was a manual error.

Speaking about his driver, Alpine Team Principal Oliver Oakes confirmed Doohan’s well-being after the incident.

“We are all relieved to see Jack walk away from his incident in Free Practice 2 and glad to see he is OK after his precautionary checks,” Oakes said.

“It was a misjudgement 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. 

“From a performance point of view today, there are some things for us to work on.”

Doohan was sidelined for the opening practice session in Japan, making way for Ryo Hirakawa to complete Alpine’s first of four mandatory rookie outings in front of his home crowd. 

The Alpine Reserve Driver brought Doohan’s challenger home safe, finishing FP1 in a solid P12 before his cautious approach went to waste.

The #7 opened his Japanese Grand Prix campaign with a practice start at the pit exit, charging down the road on the hard compound tyre just minutes before his Turn 1 crash.

Surging with adrenaline, the Australian instantly assured his team that he was okay after coming to a stop in the gravel, however, he took his time to exit the shattered A525 and looked gingerly as he was assisted to the medical car.

Doohan was brought to the medical centre for a precautionary check over, with the Australian getting the all-clear on the injury and concussion front.

“First of all, I am OK after the incident,” Doohan assured.

“It was a heavy one, something that caught me by surprise, and I will learn from it.”

As for the health of the Australian’s challenger, Alpine wasted no time in retrieving the spare chassis from storage, however, confirmed that the team would work to repair the damage instead of completing a swap overnight.

“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,” the #7 said.

“My focus is on tomorrow where we will have Free Practice 3 to get ready for Qualifying.”

FP3 is Doohan’s final chance to rack up some miles around a circuit Doohan hasn’t raced at in six years, making it all the more important ahead of Qualifying which takes place at 17:00 AEDT.

Image: Zak Mauger/LAT Images

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