“Harsh” Alpine decision-making questioned after Jack Doohan crash

Alpine’s decision-making has been called into question after Jack Doohan crashed at Suzuka on Friday.

But Doohan hadn’t driven in FP1 at the F1 Japanese Grand Prix, with Ryo Hirakawa given his car as part of an Alpine junior run.

In the second session of the day, Doohan smashed into the barrier at Turn 1 on his fourth lap. He gingerly emerged from the car but Alpine later confirmed he was okay.

However, Alpine have been questioned for the decision to let Hirakawa drive Doohan’s car, rather than the more experienced Pierre Gasly’s.

It comes amid severe pressure on Doohan for his race seat with Franco Colapinto lurking in the shadows as a reserve driver.

Alpine decision 'harsh' on Jack Doohan

“The talk of the weekend was how Liam Lawson was demoted after two weekends. That might give inspiration to other teams to make decisions,” Naomi Schiff told Sky Sports.

“Jack? We don’t know how many races he’s got to prove himself.

“It’s harsh to come here and pull him out of an FP1 which is so crucial. He’s got to learn the track, learn the characteristics.

“I wonder why they didn’t take Pierre out of the car. It feels harsh.”

Jacques Villeneuve added: “The problem is that he has known, since before the first race, that he probably won’t finish the season.

“He has been put under tremendous pressure by Flavio Briatore, mainly, with Colapinto in the wings.

“He is having to prove that he’s better than Gasly, so they should keep him. When they have told him ‘do a few races then you’ll probably be replaced…’

“You can see it in his driving. It’s not comfortable.

“When a driver is in that situation psychologically, your driving will not be natural and small mistakes will start happening.”

Villeneuve analysed Doohan’s crash in Friday practice.

“Bottoming out happens to every car. You can tell he was very aggressive when he turned in.

“He didn’t have the laps this morning so he went in with a lot of confidence.

“But with the tail wind, maybe his tyres weren’t ready. He got caught out.

“You saw the car pivoted so quickly. He threw the car in, he didn’t massage it into the corner.

“It looked aggressive, a tiny bit too much. It would have been okay in normal conditions. But it looked aggressive. The way it pivoted was surprising.”

Doohan will be back in action for qualifying on Saturday.

At just the third round of the 2025 F1 season, having seen what decision Red Bull made around Lawson, pressure is already ramping up on Doohan to perform.