Aussie Jack Doohan helped out of car by F1 rival Esteban Ocon after taxing Japanese Grand Prix

Footage has emerged of the moment Haas’s Esteban Ocon put Formula One rivalries aside to help his former Alpine teammate Jack Doohan out of the car after a taxing Japanese Grand Prix.

Doohan crashed heavily in practice on Friday before the 22-year-old made up four places — two more than any other driver — to finish 15th in Sunday’s race, and the 53 laps around Suzuka clearly took it out of the Australian.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Esteban Ocon helps stricken Jack Doohan out of car.

Onboard footage showed Doohan struggling to get out of his car before an Alpine mechanic and Ocon, whose Alpine exit last year opened the door for Doohan’s promotion, came to his aid.

Doohan appeared to make a deliberate effort to avoid using his left arm and hand to get himself out of the cockpit.

But he was also clearly uncomfortable on his feet, hobbling until Ocon wrapped an arm around to help him through the maze of cars in pit lane.

While Doohan was said to have escaped his 300km/h practice crash unharmed, the footage raises questions about his fitness with little time to recover in the coming weeks.

The Japanese Grand Prix was the first race in a triple-header, with the F1 season continuing in Bahrain this weekend and Saudi Arabia the following week.

Doohan took advantage of an alternate strategy to start on soft tyres then complete a long 38-lap stint on hards to hold on for 15th at Suzuka.

Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly finished just two places ahead.

“I think we can’t be unhappy,” Doohan said after the race, showing no ill effects in the media zone.

“Very limited running, as is obvious, and no high-fuel running coming into today. So it was a little bit of a step in the dark.

“We went super aggressive on the strategy, which gave us the best chance for an undercut, however, not the fastest overall race time.

“We were able to execute that undercut but it put us in a difficult position with about 25 laps to go when the hard tyre was giving up.

“All in all we’re still not obviously where we want to be but for myself, this weekend, as I said we can’t be too unhappy.”

Doohan’s crash on Friday was revealed by team boss Oliver Oakes to be a driver error, with the Aussie having kept DRS open when he turned into the first corner.

“We are all relieved to see Jack walk away from his incident in free practice 2 and glad to see he is OK after his precautionary checks,” Oakes said.

“It was a misjudgement of not closing the DRS into turn one. It is something to learn from and I know Jack and the team will be ready for tomorrow (qualifying). His crew will work hard to have the car prepared after the damage.”

Doohan, who battled questions about his future before the first race of the season, said the “heavy” hit “caught me by surprise”.

He completed just four laps before the crash, which came after he was sidelined for the first practice session in favour of Japanese test driver Ryo Hirakawa.

At the front of the field on Sunday, Australian Oscar Piastri marked his 24th birthday with a podium finish.

And though he was frustrated the McLaren driver said he had no complaints that his request to overtake teammate Lando Norris for a shot at race winner Max Verstappen was denied.

“I think I have the pace to get Max,” Piastri told the team over the radio with nine laps left.

But the idea of swapping places was never entertained.

Piastri has proved himself a real team player at McLaren and wasn’t about to make waves afterwards when asked about whether there had been much debate in the team about whether the drivers should swap places.

“There wasn’t much,” the Chinese Grand Prix winner shrugged.

“I felt if I had track position I could go and get Max but that’s what happens when you qualify behind, unfortunately. I at least asked the question.”

And the team’s answer?

“I think that was a fair response,” Piastri shrugged.

Ultimately, McLaren really paid the price for one of Verstappen’s most masterful qualifying performances.

McLaren principal Andrea Stella insisted afterwards that team interests were still at the forefront of their thoughts, and added he didn’t think it was obvious that Piastri was quicker than Norris, who’d been managing his tyres.

“We are here first of all to beat the other teams and put McLaren in a very strong position,” Stella said.

“When McLaren is in a strong position, then that’s the best position for the two drivers to pursue their aspirations. This is very clear to the team, very clear to the drivers.”

Piastri, though, will at least be encouraged by his race pace as he looks forward, and he conceded he had only himself to blame because he didn’t produce his best in qualifying.

“It’s obviously not the result I wanted, but I think in terms of the pace and the way I achieved the result, that’s what I wanted,” Piastri said.

“I didn’t get the most out of the car in qualifying, so that unfortunately kind of dictated a lot of what I could do today, and that’s led to the result I’ve got.

“There’s still a lot of positives to take out of this weekend. I think the pace was mega. Next time, I just have to make sure I’m in a better position to use it.”

- with AAP