Under pressure F1 driver in MASSIVE Japanese GP crash

Japanese Grand Prix

Under pressure F1 driver in MASSIVE Japanese GP crash

The Alpine star has crashed at Suzuka

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Friday 4 April 2025 08:24 Updated: 09:18

Practice at the Japanese Grand Prix has been red flagged thanks to a massive crash, Alpine's Jack Doohan wrecking his car at high speed.

The rookie driver has been under pressure early in his Formula 1 career, with popular Brazilian driver Franco Colapinto waiting in the wings to replace him.

The second practice session of the weekend had barely got underway when Doohan began a sharp descent towards Turn 1 and initially appeared to dip a wheel into the grass, smashing into the barriers and losing two wheels.

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After the significant hit to his Alpine, the Aussie racer immediately confirmed over team radio that he was unharmed, although he did appear out of breath when confirming: "I'm okay. What happened?"

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To that, David Croft responded: "I don't know about you Ant but I'm not seeing driver error."

The session was slightly delayed to allow for the significant cleanup around the high-speed circuit, with just under 30 minutes left for teams and their remaining drivers to get valuable run times in ahead of qualifying on Saturday, although Doohan headed straight to the medical tent to get checked over whilst Alpine began the tricky repair job on his A525.

Those 30 minutes didn't go exactly to plan, with three more red flags coming out for a Fernando Alonso mistake and two separate fires around the track.

Alpine Japanese Grand Prix Franco Colapinto Jack Doohan David Croft Anthony Davidson