Aus GP: Jack Doohan crashes out on opening lap in Melbourne

After fending off ongoing speculation about his Formula 1 future all week, Aussie Jack Doohan will have more questions to answer after a disastrous result in Melbourne.

Alpine rookie Jack Doohan made no excuses for his “brutal” first-lap crash in his Australian Grand Prix debut and was already looking ahead to bouncing back at the next race in China.

In a heartbreaking start to his rookie campaign in Formula 1, Doohan struck disaster on the opening lap when he lost control of his Alpine and spun out.

After a week when he had been forced to fend off ongoing speculation about his future in Formula 1 before his first season had even started, Doohan became the second rookie to crash out at the start of the race in the treacherous conditions.

In a chaotic start to the race at Albert Park, Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar barely made it through the second turn before he crashed out on the formation lap.

Doohan lost control heading into turn six, spinning off and crashing into the wall, sparking the first safety car on a wet and wild race in Melbourne.

Despite the initial pain of his early exit, Doohan said he had quickly come to terms with the crash and would learn from the experience.

“It’s my first shunt in one of these Formula 1 cars, I’m sure it won’t be the last,” Doohan said.

Jack Doohan’s race ended in disaster. Picture: David Caird

“It’s a brutal way to have it, but it happens, we’re humans.

“I didn’t want it to happen, but it has. I’ve accepted it and not really looking for excuses out there for other drivers or anything like that.

“I made this mistake and I accept it and I look forward to bouncing back.

“In this sport things happen very quickly …. and the next round is almost upon us.

“It was an unfortunate way (to go out), but the lesson is learnt and I have digested it.

“There are a lot of positives that we have to take away from this weekend and for me they outweigh this negative and I look forward to bouncing back for next weekend.”

Doohan, who had started 14th for his first race on home soil, explained he had lost control of the car when he had shifted gear and might have also been caught out by the slippery white lines painted on the road.

“I lost it on the third to fourth gear upshift and then I went into fourth (gear) and I lost the car so some things that I am going to need to understand,” Doohan said.

“But a constant learning process and unfortunately this one has big consequences but I have definitely learnt and I am going to make sure that it doesn’t happen again.

“I think maybe a combination of white line, but it seems that we had a spike in the RPM when I upshifted to fourth, so we’re just double checking to make sure that everything is behaving itself and maybe a little bit less right foot and little more left and it won’t happen again.”

Doohan started the race in 14th. Picture: Clive Mason/Getty Images

The 22-year-old’s famous dad, five-time world motorcycle legend Mick, watched on from the garage as his son’s race came to a heartbreaking and premature end.

When he spoke to the media after the incident, Doohan had at the time only had a quick reaction from his dad after the crash.

“He came up behind me, I think he said there was a white line, a bugger,” Doohan said.

“But for sure he had many times where he was scraping along the ground at much higher speeds than me as well.

“At the end of the day I am just going to have to learn to accept this and there is no better person in my corner that has been through that and been through these tough times and bounced back.”

While the wet conditions were challenging for the entire grid, the incident won’t help the pressure on the Gold Coast racer with his seat already under scrutiny.

The 22-year-old has been forced to constantly defend his spot on the grid after Argentine Franco Colapinto was signed as a reserve driver amid speculation Alpine advisor Flavio Briatore wants the Aussie replaced within five events.

While his race barely got started, Doohan said there were plenty of positives to take out of the weekend in Australia.

Doohan has been under pressure. Picture: James Sutton - Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images

“To be honest the pace was strong,” Doohan said.

“I think yesterday afternoon if we could have completed that Q2 lap, we would have been comfortably through to Q3 …. and that would have already put us in a good place, I think P8, P7 was on the cards (Saturday) afternoon - ifs, buts and maybes.

“But it’s good confidence to know going into the rest of the season.

“The strong thing is that I have pace and that I was quick behind the wheel. It would be unfortunate if I didn’t have that and I still crashed, but at least we have that pace as it’s important.

“I know that if we can put it all together, we can have a great race this season.”

Doohan said he was disappointed in himself, but had to look ahead now to China.

“There is no time to dwell in this sport because in two days’ time we’ll be in China and my head needs to be clear, forward and focusing on that,” Doohan said.

Originally published as Aus GP: Jack Doohan crashes out on opening lap in Melbourne