Jack Doohan, Aussie rookie F1 driver, crash stops practice session at Japanese Grand Prix

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But the team later put responsibility at the feet of their rookie driver.

In a shocking incident in free practice two that had a rival stunned and prompted an immediate investigation by FIA officials, Doohan slammed into the tyre wall at the end of turn one when his car simply lost control as he attempted to brake into the apex of the corner.

Given drivers reach speeds of 300km/h down the main straight and Doohan had yet to apply the brakes, Villeneuve said the impact would have been serious on the young Australian.

“I’m OK, yeah, what happened?” Doohan said on the team radio immediately afterwards.

Even Sky Sports commentators thought there was little Doohan could do to prevent the crash, claiming he was “just a passenger” as the rear wheels lost grip and complete control.

The incident caused immediate shock, with rivals immediately fearful for Doohan’s safety.

“Whoa big crash. Big, big crash. Oh my god,” said rival Isack Hadjar said on his team radio having witnessed the spin from behind.

Doohan walked very slowly away from the incident but his wreckage was so severe, Sky Sports broadcasters refused to show the damaged chassis on television as it returned to pitlane where FIA safety officials immediately took control to inspect the crumbled mess.

Villeneuve explained the high-speed corner requires drivers to put faith in the fact that downforce will keep them on track, but in this case Doohan was just a “passenger” in a frightening accident.

“When they go into that corner they are over 300km/h, the cars are heavy, there’s over 4Gs, that is over four tonnes and there was not much slowing down before he hit that wall,” he said.

“With how much downforce these cars have … it’s like they are glued to the ground. It does not look human at all. At that speed, the amount of downforce they have there is no reason for a car to lose it unless there is something going wrong.

“Unless the aero balance is completely out or the car is bottoming out and suddenly there is no more air going under and you lose a couple of tonnes of downforce and suddenly at the wrong moment.

“That was a quick snap, it wasn’t a slide, the car just lost it.

“It did look like suddenly he lost all downforce on the rear end and sent the pressure forward.

“Usually it happens later in the corner so I think he was shocked and not expecting it.

“He was a passenger by that point and he knew the impact was quite strong. You could hear it in his voice on the radio. He was a little bit out of breath. We are not used to seeing these moments in F1 any more, big impacts like this, but it looks like it was well absorbed.

“Turn one where he lost it, it looks easy on TV but for the drivers it is so impressive because you know you have to slow down for turn two. You arrive at a speed that visually you know is too much, but somehow you know the car will stay on the track. But this time it didn’t.”

After precautionary medical checks, Doohan later said he was feeling “OK” after the crash.

Alpine team principal Oliver Oakes confirmed the cause of Doohan’s crash, which he said happened after the Australian rookie failed to close the DRS into the first corner.

“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 in a team statement.

“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.”

Aussie Jack Doohan suffers a huge crash in F1 practice in Japan

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5	codesports.com.au01:21 Aussie Jack Doohan suffers a huge crash in F1 practice in Japan

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The F1 rookie slammed his Alpine into the wall on the first turn early in the second practice session.

Doohan said he would learn from the “heavy” incident and thanked the team for their work in repairing the car.

“First of all, I’m OK after the incident,” Doohan said

“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 3 to get ready for qualifying.”

It’s the last thing Doohan needed ahead of the third GP of the 2025 season, with the son of former MotoGP champion Mick under pressure to retain his seat.

Meanwhile, fellow Australia Oscar Piastri continued his superb early season with the fastest time in P2, of 1min 28.114sec.

He was 0.049sec faster than teammate Lando Norris, with Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar third fastest.

Liam Lawson, in his first GP since being demoted by Red Bull Racing, was fifth fastest in what was a truncated session, in which more than 30 minutes were lost to red flags.