2 weeks Ago By BBC
SUZUKA, Japan, April 4, 2025 – Alpine’s Jack Doohan suffered a high-speed crash as Friday practice at the Japanese Grand Prix was punctuated by four red-flag stoppages.The Australian was uninjured in the crash, which initial impressions suggested was caused by the DRS overtaking aid still being open as he entered the 160mph first corner.Alpine have not commented on the cause of the incident, saying they are “assessing” it.
Doohan’s was the first of four incidents that led to the session being stopped, two of which were for the grass catching fire beside the track.McLaren’s Oscar Piastri ended up fastest from team-mate Lando Norris.The second stoppage was caused when Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso spun off and became beached in the gravel at Degner One, shortly after the session was restarted following a 20-minute delay to repair the damage to the barriers at Turn One.
And a few minutes after the session was resumed, the cars had to return to the pits when the grass caught fire between Dunlop and Degner One.That left only seven minutes of running at the end of the session, but it was stopped after six when a bigger patch of grass caught fire on the run down to Spoon Curve.The series of stoppages left it impossible to draw any serious conclusions about relative pace, although it remains clear that McLaren are the team to beat.
Frenchman Isack Hadjar, though, continued to impress for Racing Bulls with third fastest time on his first visit to Suzuka, considered one of the most demanding circuits on the calendar.His team-mate Liam Lawson, who was demoted from the Red Bull team after just two races before this event, was fifth fastest behind Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari.Mercedes’ George Russell was sixth fastest, from the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.
Max Verstappen was eighth, complaining of understeer in his Red Bull, with Pierre Gasly’s Alpine and the Williams of Carlos Sainz completing the top 10.Yuki Tsunoda impressed in the first session, topped by Norris, after his move up to Red Bull in place of Lawson, with sixth fastest time just 0.107 seconds slower than team-mate Verstappen.
The Japanese was only 18th in the second session, not completing a representative lap on the soft tyres.The post Doohan crash as Suzuka practice stopped four times appeared first on Capital Sports..
