Alpine issue official team statement after Jack Doohan crash at Japanese Grand Prix

Alpine Formula 1 team have issued an official statement following a huge crash for driver Jack Doohan at the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend.

The Aussie star had barely completed a lap around Suzuka International Circuit on Friday before crashing into the barriers at Turn 1, taking to team radio to initially confirm he was okay, before sheepishly asking, "What happened?"

The Sky F1 broadcast team initially stated that they didn’t believe the smash had been caused by driver error, however it has since been confirmed by Alpine that it in fact was caused by Doohan failing to close the DRS flap, a tactic which he had been using when heading into Turn 1 on the simulator.

After Doohan had received the green light from the medical tent that he was unharmed, the Enstone-based outfit released a statement from team principal Oliver Oakes, who described Doohan's incident as a 'misjudgement'.

Alpine provide update over Doohan's car

Taking to their social media accounts to provide an update on Doohan's car, another Alpine official statement read: "The team worked into the night to prepare car number seven (Doohan) ahead of Saturday’s FP3 and qualifying.

"All parts have been replaced, bar the power unit. The car is ready and prepared for FP3."

Both Alpine and Doohan had their work cut out for them ahead of Saturday, with the 22-year-old only getting in four laps of practice on Friday thanks to his crash, having also sat out FP1 earlier on in the day to make way for Alpine reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa.

Whilst Doohan was already ruled out of the second practice session on Friday, the remaining teams and drivers had their run plans hampered by the fact that there were three more red flags following the Alpine incident, with two of them as a result of the sporadic grass fires around the track.

This issue persisted for the third and final practice session of the weekend on Saturday, where Doohan returned to the track at the wheel of his A525.

Doohan struggled in FP3 too, before ultimately putting his car down in 19th position for Sunday's Japanese GP, facing another Q1 exit.

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