Doohan on being replaced during FP1 in Japan as a rookie: "Just suck it up and push on"

Alpine F1 driver Jack Doohan has spoken about the "pain" he was in during the Japanese Grand Prix after his heavy crash during free practice two.

The Australian was replaced by Japanese driver Ryo Hirakawa for the first free practice session of the weekend at Suzuka, despite himself being a rookie for the 2025 season.

After just four laps of FP2, Doohan closed his DRS too late going into turn 1, resulting in him sliding off the track and hitting the barriers with a hefty impact.

Doohan was "sore", but back to "100%" after 'painful' Grand Prix

The 22-year-old got out of the car very gingerly after the impact of the crash, with a potential worry of injury coming from that collision. Hwever, during Thursday's press conference at the Bahrain Grand Prix, he clear up his condition going into this weekend: "I was just winded. I'm 100%, all completely perfect.

"I think I was sore a little bit on the Friday, certainly Saturday a bit worse, and Sunday a little bit worse again. So I'd say there was pain from the start of the race, not necessarily towards the end. It helps with the adrenaline a little bit, for sure. And yeah, I think it’s natural with the shunt and just the positioning that I suffered a little bit of soreness. But a couple of days off—Monday, Tuesday and also yesterday—have been very much needed and very good for the body," continued the Australian.

Doohan talks on his start to life in F1

The 22-year-old was then asked about the decision for him to be replaced as a rookie by Hirakawa for FP1 instead of Pierre Gasly, with the Japanese driver now no longer a part of the French team after moving to Haas.

"It was something that was, to my knowledge, very early on in the year—way before testing, before the start of the year," Doohan explained when asked about Hirakawa's move to the American team

"There were reasons around the positioning of that FP1 and, you know, very early on, I knew these things were not in my control. So you just suck it up and push on and take it as it comes."

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But despite that, there are still many positives the Australian is taking coming into his fourth F1 race of his career at the Bahrain Grand Prix: "There's been at least some silver lining in each weekend and some positives to take away, which have been the most important thing. I think as long as you learn from the setbacks or things you can improve on and digest them, then you can make sure you know where those positives came from and how to replicate them.

"I think the biggest goal this weekend is just to put the weekend together, have a smooth run from start to finish, and just keep building and inching closer and closer so that we can start to get that complete package," concluded Doohan.