Alpine have themselves to blame for Jack Doohan’s crash after making costly mistake at Japanese Grand Prix

Jack Doohan suffered a nasty-looking accident during FP2 at the Japanese Grand Prix. It was exactly what the Alpine driver did not need amid the intense pressure on his shoulders.

Even before the 2025 season started, there were talks that the Aussie could lose his seat, despite only making one appearance in F1 at the time (the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix).

Doohan allegedly has a six-race contract, giving him limited time to prove his worth. Alpine signed Franco Colapinto as a reserve driver on a long-term contract over the winter and the Argentine is being tipped to replace him.

After two races in 2025, Doohan has yet to score points. He crashed on lap one of the Australian Grand Prix and was P13 in China, finishing last in the Sprint the day before.

Heading into the Japanese Grand Prix, the pressure on the 22-year-old is incredibly high. F1 Oversteer reported that Doohan thinks Suzuka is his last race as he anticipates Alpine to make a decision on his career after this weekend.

The Aussie suffered a massive dent to his F1 future by crashing violently at turn one during FP2. However, his team made a costly error over the weekend that would have been a huge factor in the accident.

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Alpine have themselves to blame for not giving Jack Doohan mileage in FP1 at the Japanese Grand Prix

Doohan missed Friday’s earlier practice session as Alpine gave Japanese driver Ryo Hirakawa an outing. This was confirmed way before the season started, but it has proved to be damaging to the Aussie.

As David Croft pointed out on Sky Sports F1, he was only on his fourth lap of the circuit when he lost the car at turn one and smashed into the barriers.

“That’s a lot of damage done to Jack Doohan’s car, which was on it’s fourth lap of this session and his fourth lap of the day,” he said.

“Jack, if you weren’t with us for FP1, was replaced by Ryo Hirakawa for that session and had to sit it out whilst the young rookie completed that practice session, and he’s ok which is really, really good to know.

“That’s a big repair job, that’s a lot of damage and that’s exactly what Jack Doohan did not need at the start of his first practice session of the weekend here at Suzuka.”

It is currently not known whether the crash was caused by an issue with the car or driver error. Regardless, Doohan’s lack of mileage at Suzuka has proved to be a costly mistake from Alpine.

Karun Chandhok was stunned Alpine dropped Doohan for FP1 for Hirakawa. While it is understandable the team wanted to give the Japanese driver at Suzuka, the fact their full-time driver had limited knowledge of the circuit and is facing pressure should have seen him in the car.

Even Doohan himself was ‘a bit miffed’ that he would miss FP1. The team now have a lot of work to do to fix the car overnight.

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Isack Hadjar was deeply concerned for Jack Doohan after his huge crash in FP2 at Suzuka

Doohan was visibly shaken after the accident as he stepped out of the car. The Aussie would have likely taken on a lot of G-force from such a violent spin and impact with the barriers.

Father Mick Doohan was seen heading to the medical centre after his son’s crash. It is not known whether the 22-year-old will be fit enough to compete on Saturday or the race on Sunday.

Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar was behind Doohan when he went off at turn one. The Frenchman was audibly worried for his fellow rookie as he came over his team radio: “Whoa, big crash. Big, big crash, Red flag. Oh my god.”

Doohan’s crash will certainly have knocked his confidence – more mileage in FP1 would have mitigated that. If he is fit to get back in the car on Saturday, he will be even more on the back foot than he already was.