Jack Doohan had a heavy crash in FP2 at the Suzuka Circuit. According to former world champion Jacques Villeneuve, the psychological pressure on the Australian driver contributed to that.
Seven minutes into the session, Jack Doohan lost control of his car in Turn 1, and crashed into the barrier, causing the first red flag during the second 60 minutes of the day. The driver's DRS was still open as he entered the corner, as there is no braking in that corner, it would have had to been closed manually. Luckily, the Australian was OK after the incident.
"The problem is he's known before the first race that he probably would not finish this season," Villeneuve began after FP2 on Sky Sports.
The Canadian sees that the pressure on Doohan's shoulders only leads to more mistakes, as he desperately tries to show his talent to Alpine and Flavio Briatore. Villeneuve also competed for Renault under the Italian's leadership during three Grands Prix in the 2004 season.
"He's been put under tremendous pressure by Flavio [Briatore] mainly with Colapinto there in the wing and the writing was on the wall. And his driving has been one of desperation having to prove that he's at least better than Gasly, so they should keep him when he's already been told that, ‘Look, do a few races, but then you'll probably be replaced’ and you can see it in his driving."
He concluded: "It's really not comfortable and when the driver is in that situation, even psychologically, the driving will not be natural and small mistakes will start happening."
Popular on GPBlog
F1 Full Results | Japanese Grand Prix FP2: Piastri P1, Norris P2
FP3 at Suzuka: Will Verstappen and Red Bull turn their weekend around?
Longruns prove Verstappen right: Red Bull Racing has serious homework to do
