Jacques Villeneuve expresses sympathy for Jack Doohan following his major crash during the second free practice for the Japanese Grand Prix. The former Formula 1 world champion observes that the Alpine driver was already in a difficult position before his first race, making the crash a ‘writing on the wall’.
The second free practice for the Japanese Grand Prix was overshadowed by a severe crash. Jack Doohan lost control of his car on the straight after the start-finish, shot off the track, and came to a halt at high speed against the tire stack. For the Alpine driver, this does not make the situation any easier. “The problem is that he knew before the first race that he probably wouldn’t finish this season. He has been put under enormous pressure by Flavio Briatore, with Colapinto in the wings,” Villeneuve explains as an analyst for Sky Sports F1.
Desperation
The former Formula 1 world champion expresses sympathy for the rookie. “You can see it in his driving behavior. It’s not comfortable, 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 to happen.”
According to the Canadian, the crash was a ‘writing on the wall’. “His driving style was one of desperation, he had to prove that he is better than Pierre Gasly, so they should reassure him by saying: ‘Look, you’re doing a few races’, but then you’re probably going to be replaced.”
Aggressive
On the straight, Doohan’s left rear tire hit the grass. The footage shows that the DRS was still open when entering the first corner, causing the Australian to spin and crash at 300 kilometers per hour. The car was completely written off: the side of the car was heavily damaged and the rear wheel was launched. Doohan got out of the car on his own, but was visibly dizzy.
“It looked aggressive and was just a little too much. It would have been good under normal circumstances with the tires warm and without wind at the back, but the team could see in the data that the suspension might have failed,” analyzes Villeneuve. “That’s something we can’t really see now, but it looked very aggressive and the way it turned was very surprising.”
