Aussie Jack Doohan suffers huge crash in F1 practice in Japan

Under-pressure Aussie F1 rookie Jack Doohan has been involved in a heavy collision early in practice for the Japanese Grand Prix.

Aussie F1 rookie Jack Doohan suffered a heavy crash early in the second practice session before compatriot Oscar Piastri recorded the fastest time ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.

In a chaotic session that involved four red flags and a grass fire, 22-year-old Alpine driver Doohan slammed into the barriers at the first corner on just his fourth lap of the session.

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Doohan said “I’m OK” over the team radio before he was helped into a car to be assessed by the team’s medical staff.

“Jack Doohan has gone off in the Alpine at the first corner and has gone in pretty hard to the barrier there and we’ve got a red flag,” David Croft said on Fox Sports.

Jack Doohan's car after a big impact on the wall in Suzuka. Photo: Fox Sports

“I’m not surprised, one of the tyres has come off completely and that’s a lot of damage done.

“He’s OK, which is really, really good to know.

“He’s gone in very hard to that first corner there.

“That’s a big repair job, a lot of damage and just what he did not need.”

Coming off his victory at the Chinese Grand Prix, Piastri recorded the fastest time in the session of 1:28.114, narrowly ahead of McLaren teammate Lando Norris (1:28.163).

Isack Hadjar rounded out the top three for Racing Bulls, with Max Verstappen down in eighth place with the new Red Bull white livery for this race.

But Doohan was the story of the opening session for his scary accident that continues a rough start to the season for the young Aussie, who is considered under huge pressure already to retain his seat at the F1 team.

“He says he’s OK but you can see how slowly he got himself out of the car there,” Anthony Davidson said as the drama unfolded.

“That’s shaken him up a bit.”

The Aussie looked shaken up after the incident. Photo: Fox Sports

Doohan later said to his team: “I’m OK. What happened?”

The team replied: “We’re just looking at everything on our side here.”

The commentary team then discussed what may have happened after seeing the replay.

Davidson suggested: “I think the car might’ve bottomed out.”

Croft replied: “I’m not sure about you, I’m not seeing driver error on that one.”

Davidson then said: “It doesn’t look like it. It looked to me like he was just a passenger there.”

Doohan, the son of Aussie MotoGP legend Mick Doohan, crashed out of the Australian Grand Prix to start the season.

He then finished 15th in an improved display in China.

With highly-rated reserve driver Franco Colapinto waiting in the wings, however, the Aussie is understood to be under huge pressure to perform.

Fellow rookie Hadjar saw the crash unfold and said over his team radio: “Whoa, big crash. Big, big crash. Red flag.

“Oh my god.”

Ted Kravitz also offered his thoughts from pit lane.

“It was pretty shocking for everybody watching at home, enough to make you wince,” he said.

“I’m sure it’s the same for everyone watching on. They’re figuring out what to do.

“Will definitely be a call to get the spare chassis out of the box.

Doohan is in his first full season in F1. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

Oscar Piastri walks in the paddock after topping the second practice session. (Photo by MOHD RASFAN / AFP)

“As to what caused it, the wind just picked up and it’s a proper tailwind, pushing the cars from the rear turning into Turn 1.”

Jacques Villeneuve also reported from near the accident sight.

“We can see there are a lot of trucks here so a lot of damage was done to the wall,” he said.

“Think about it, when they go through that corner, they’re going over 300km/h, the cars are heavy and there’s not much slowing down before you hit that wall.

“The car wasn’t slowing down and the amount of weight that wall received was enormous.”

Veteran Fernando Alonso also caused a later red flag when he went off the track and sparks from a Sauber car also set off a fire on the grass alongside the track in a wild session.

There will be another practice session and then qualifying at 5pm AEDT on Saturday, with the race getting underway at 3pm AEDT on Sunday.