Jack Doohan refuses to answer DRS questions after Q1 exit
Jack Doohan bats away questions surrounding his massive practice crash in Japan.
Jack Doohan has refused to answer questions about his mistake which led to his huge F1 Japanese Grand Prix practice crash.
The Alpine driver suffered a speculator, high-speed accident in second practice on Friday which was caused by the rookie failing to close the DRS system before he hit the brakes at Turn 1.
Doohan lost control of his car at 185mph and violently smashed into the barriers, causing extensive damage to his Alpine. He escaped the accident unharmed.
The incident has placed further scrutiny on Doohan, who is already fighting to keep his Alpine seat with Franco Colapinto waiting in the wings to replace him if he fails to perform.
Doohan went on to endure a disappointing qualifying at Suzuka and ended up being eliminated in Q1 with a time only good enough for 19th. Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly reached Q2 and took 11th.
"I'm pushing through, so I don't want to use any excuses on anything like that, but that's why we train, let's say and keep our heads in a good place,” Doohan told Sky Sports F1 about how he’s feeling following his crash.
“I think maybe Q2 could have been on the cards. I know I had to continue to make big steps on every lap. To be honest, I made a mistake in the exit of the spoon curve which if I didn't do it, I probably would have made Q2.
"So I can't really be too mad or upset about that. It's just unfortunately the circumstances we're in.”
But when asked directly about the DRS issue which led to his huge shunt in practice, Doohan was quick to shut down the question.
"About attempting to do that [keep DRS open], to be honest, I would prefer not to touch on that and just sort of put that in the past and look forward to tomorrow, no disrespect,” he replied.
Alpine revealed on Friday that the crash was driver error.
“We are all relieved to see Jack walk away from his incident in Free Practice 2 and glad to see he is OK after his precautionary checks," team boss Oliver Oakes said.
"It was a misjudgement of not closing the DRS into Turn 1. It is something to learn from and I know Jack and the team will be ready for tomorrow.”
Given his lowly starting position, it will take something special for Doohan to score his first F1 points in Sunday’s grand prix.
Lewis regularly attends Grands Prix for Crash.net around the world. Often reporting on the action from the ground, Lewis tells the stories of the people who matter in the sport.
