Alpine confirms Doohan crash triggered by DRS ‘misjudgment’

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Alpine has confirmed that Jack Doohan’s failure to close his car’s DRS as he sped flat-out into Suzuka’s first corner led to the Aussie’s massive crash in Friday’s second practice.

The spectacular accident, from which Doohan fortunately emerged unscathed, unfolded just ten minutes into FP2, and prompted a lengthy red flag that was the first of four stoppages that marred the session.

Unfortunately, Doohan’s A525 came off the worse for wear, leaving his Alpine crews facing a significant repair or rebuild effort ahead of Saturday’s running.

High-Speed Chaos at Turn 1

Doohan, who had already missed FP1 earlier in the day as Alpine handed his car to reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa, was on just his fourth lap of FP2 when he lost control at Turn 1 and veered off course at full speed.

Running on the hard tyre compound, the rookie spun violently into the barriers as the DRS-related error reduced downforce at a critical moment.

A shaken Doohan was quick to radio his team, asking, “What happened?”

The incident compounded a tough day for the embattled Australian driver, who was already short on track time after sitting out the morning session at a circuit known for its unforgiving nature.

Addressing the crash afterward, Doohan confirmed he was unharmed and expressed appreciation for his team’s upcoming efforts.

“First of all, I am OK after the incident. It was a heavy one, something that caught me by surprise, and I will learn from it,” he said.

“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.”

Oakes Confirms Cause and Rallies Team

Alpine team principal Oliver Oakes elaborated on the crash, pinpointing the DRS error as the root cause while emphasizing Doohan’s safety.

“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.”

Oakes also highlighted positives from the day, maintaining optimism about the team’s prospects.

“From a performance point of view today, there are some things for us to work on. Pierre had a good run in Free Practice 2, which bodes well for tomorrow, as did Ryo, who did a great job to run through the programme this morning,” he added.

“We tried some set-up options between cars and we have a good direction to go in ahead of Qualifying.”

The team boss’s comments underscore a belief in Alpine’s ability to rebound, with Gasly’s solid P9 performance in FP2 and Hirakawa’s earlier contribution providing a foundation to build on despite Doohan’s setback.