Although Alpine kicked off their race weekend at the F1 Japanese GP in high spirits with reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa impressing his home crowd and team principal Oliver Oakes in his rookie FP1 session, their fortunes took a turn for the worse as Jack Doohan suffered a massive high-speed crash during the second practice session of the day.
Hirakawa found himself behind the wheel of Doohan’s A525 for the opening session of the weekend, as the French outfit allotted the first of four mandatory FP1 opportunities for rookie drivers in 2025. The Japanese driver clocked the twelfth-fastest time of the session ahead of the experienced Pierre Gasly and completed 24 laps on his home turf.
Meanwhile, after sitting on the sidelines in the first session on Friday, Doohan crashed heavily into the barriers going into Turn 1 on his first push lap of the day in FP2. As the young Aussie failed to close the DRS mechanism manually, the aerodynamic imbalance resulted in him losing control of the car as soon as he turned into the corner.
Hirakawa confident from the beginning because of familiarity with the track
Speaking in a print media zone after FP1, a delighted Hirakawa revealed that he was confident to push from the get-go and carry out the team’s run plan without a hitch given his familiarity with the Suzuka Circuit. He also complimented how the car felt and added that they have collected some relevant data which would assist the team in the near future.
Moreover, Hirakawa stated that he was pleased to see Doohan walk away unscathed after the Alpine rookie experienced a huge shunt in the second practice session of the F1 Japanese GP.
“It was a great experience to do Free Practice 1 at my home race in Suzuka.
“It’s a circuit I know very well. So, I felt quite confident to push straight away and really maximise the session and execute the team’s run plan. We completed everything we intended to do so and learnt some things which should benefit the team going forward.
“The car felt quick, that was cool to experience, especially at this fantastic circuit and I’m very grateful to the team for this opportunity.
“Finally, I am glad to see Jack [Doohan] is OK after his crash.”
Simulator experiment with open DRS goes awry on track for Doohan
Unlike other tracks, where the DRS deactivates automatically when the brakes are applied, the Suzuka International Circuit requires drivers to manually turn off the DRS heading into the high-speed first corner.
As reported by German publication AMuS, Doohan unfortunately opted to keep the DRS flap open on purpose going into Turn 1 after having tried it on the simulator.
After the medical team cleared him, Doohan admitted that the crash was unexpected and that he intends to learn from the incident. At the same time, the 22-year-old commended the team in advance for the massive repair work they have to perform overnight to get his severely damaged Alpine ready before qualifying for the F1 Japanese GP takes place tomorrow.
“First of all, I am OK after the incident. It was a heavy one, something that caught me by surprise, and I will learn from it.
“I know the team has a lot of work ahead to repair the car going into tomorrow, so thanks in advance to them for their efforts.
“My focus is on tomorrow where we will have Free Practice 3 to get ready for qualifying.”
Oakes still optimistic about qualifying despite Friday’s setback
Although the misjudgement on Doohan’s part with regard to the DRS saw him completely wreck his A525 and visit the medical centre, team principal Oakes is optimistic that both the Aussie and the team will learn from the mistake and prepare themselves well for the on-track action tomorrow.
“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.
“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. His crew will work hard to have the car prepared after the damage.”
Reflecting on their overall performance on Friday, the Brit underscored the progress that Gasly made as the French driver set the ninth-fastest time in FP2 after finishing the first practice session in fourteenth place. He also applauded Hirakawa for executing a clean and strong programme in FP1 earlier in the day.
Admitting that there is still room for improvement, Alpine team principal Oakes also disclosed that they tested multiple set-up choices and that they have found a good direction heading into the qualifying session for the F1 Japanese GP on Saturday.
“From a performance point of view today, there are some things for us to work on.
“Pierre [Gasly] had a good run in Free Practice 2, which bodes well for tomorrow, as did Ryo [Hirakawa], who did a great job to run through the programme this morning.
“We tried some set-up options between cars and we have a good direction to go in ahead of qualifying.”
