Jack Doohan explains the mistake that ended his Australian GP: “I stuffed up”

Alpine F1 rookie Jack Doohan has revealed the reason behind his crash at the very beginning of the 2025 Australian Grand Prix. The Australian driver took full responsibility for the incident and explained to the media, including Motorsport.com, how it happened.

Doohan was already under pressure as he lined up to race at his home track, and the wet conditions only exacerbated the situation. He spun out and crashed on the first lap, joining several other drivers who struggled in the treacherous conditions.

“Yeah, I think next time I’ll certainly do exactly what I was doing on the lap to the grid, which was short shifting already before turn 3, so I was in 3rd gear, you know, as I was just puttering around and at a part throttle, 80%, I shifted to 4th gear and just lost it on the gear shift, so I think we’ll also just match the other side of the garage as well on our upshift harshness,” Doohan explained.

The 22-year-old rookie elaborated on the specifics of what happened as he accelerated out of Turn 5 at Albert Park.

“Because I think, because I straightened the wheel, which essentially should be the good thing, but that also meant that we went to max harshness on the upshift, which spun me. No excuses at all, but yeah for me, I’ll just be even more cautious, make sure that I upshift before the corner,” he continued. 

“At the end of the day, I stuffed up, let’s not get too in the deep on anything. I’m in control, but for sure, maybe things weren’t helping me in the best way, but you know I live and learn. I’ll definitely be either lighter on the throttle at a lower percentage and upshift a bit earlier.”

He ended: “Just to get the record straight, you know, there’s nothing that was wrong with the car at all, you know, I stuffed up myself and I dealt with it.”

Doohan wasn’t the only driver in Melbourne who fell foul of the poor conditions. While a number of rookies crashed out, the likes of Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso also retired from the race, proving that it wasn’t just a rookie error.

Looking towards the Chinese Grand Prix this weekend, Doohan is going in with a level head on his shoulders. 

“We’re going to regroup, keep our heads high,” he said after the Australian Grand Prix. “We’ve had a strong package this weekend, very strong yesterday afternoon, so we need to keep strong and bounce back next weekend.”