Doohan comes through practice crash to finish the job at Suzuka

Jack Doohan's Japanese Grand Prix started in near disaster when he spun off the track in practice and slammed his Alpine into a wall at more than 330 kph but he brushed himself down and finished the weekend with a creditable drive for 15th.

The Australian, the son of five-times motorcycling world champion Mick, started the race in 19th and Alpine team principal Oliver Oakes said the rookie had done a "good job" in a race where there was very little overtaking.

"It was good to get another full race distance under my belt and continue to gain experience and understanding of the package," said Doohan.

"It was positive to move forward at a track that's difficult to overtake and the race pace also felt strong despite no high fuel running."

Doohan's crash was caused by his DRS being left open as he went into turn one at Suzuka and carefully chosen words along with diplomatic silences have left it unclear whether that was a driver decision or something he had discussed with the team.

"I would prefer not to touch on that. I just want to put that in the past," Doohan said after qualifying.

Video of Doohan needing help to get out of his car after Sunday's race has been portrayed in the Australian media as evidence that he was more badly injured in Friday's crash than he or the team let on.

The team said after the accident that Doohan had been given the okay to continue his race weekend after medical checks.

The bookmakers consider Doohan the most likely driver to lose his seat this season after he crashed out on debut in his home race in Australia and finished 13th in his second grand prix in China.

Next week in the fourth round of the season, the championship lands back in Bahrain, where Alpine showed some encouraging pace in pre-season testing.

"We will take a couple of days between races to rest and recover," the 22-year-old said.

"I'm looking forward to going again in Bahrain where the conditions will be completely different again."