Featured Image Credit: Formula 1
Topics: Formula 1
Ryan Smart
The second Friday practice session at the Japanese Grand Prix has been red flagged after a horror high-speed crash involving Alpine's Jack Doohan.
Just minutes into the session, the Australian lost control of his Alpine at 160mph going into turn one, with the car spinning and hitting the tyre barrier hard at turn one.
His Alpine was destroyed on impact, but Doohan fortunately stated over team radio that he was okay and was able to walk away.
However, the team later confirmed that he will undergo precautionary checks before being cleared to play a further part in the weekend.
Advert
The red flag was immediately waved, with a lengthy stoppage expected as the marshals clear away the debris and fix the barrier.
It wasn't immediately clear what caused the crash, with it being an unusual sight to see a car lose control into such a high-speed corner.
Doohan immediately asked his Alpine race engineer what caused the incident, with the team replying that they would assess the data.
Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar was behind the Australian and witnessed the crash, before checking with his engineer that Doohan was okay.
The Alpine driver didn't compete in the first practice session as the team replaced him with reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa in what was a scheduled change.
Each team must field a rookie driver - that has not previously competed in more than two races - in practice sessions on two occasions in a season.
Analysing the crash on Sky Sports, former F1 driver Anthony Davidson said: "From this angle [onboard], it didn't look like he did dip the left rear wheel [in the grass].
"That did let go incredibly quick. I would not have expected that.
"I think the only explanation is that the car might have bottomed out."
David Croft added: "I don't know about you, but I'm not seeing driver error there."
The session restarted around 20 minutes later, but was quickly red-flagged again.
After only a number of minutes, Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso did dip a wheel into the grass, this time down at turn eight, and beached his car in the gravel.