Following last Sunday’s race, Doohan was seen gingerly climbing from his car before walking away with the assistance of Esteban Ocon.
He’d crashed at full throttle during Free Practice 2 in Japan after failing to close his DRS flap when entering the opening corner.
Taken to the circuit medical centre, the 22-year-old was declared fit and allowed to continue for the remainder of the weekend.
Unsurprisingly, the impact took a toll.
“I was sore a little bit on Friday,” Doohan admitted.
“Saturday a bit worse and Sunday a little bit worse again.
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“There was pain from the start of the race – not necessarily towards the end, but it helps with the adrenaline a little bit.
“It’s natural with the shunt and just the positioning that I suffered a little bit of soreness, but a couple of days off on Monday, Tuesday, and also yesterday, has been very much needed and very good for the body.”
A lack of running on Japan heading into qualifying left Doohan capable of only 19th on the grid.
However, he then raced his way forward to 15th, only two places behind teammate Pierre Gasly despite a compromised strategy aimed at gaining track position more than ultimate race time.
It’s been a rough start to 2025 for the Aussie, who crashed out in slippery conditions in Melbourne following a promising build-up to that point.
He then earned four penalty points for incidents in the Chinese Grand Prix and the Sprint before crashing in Japan.
“There’s been at least some silver lining in each weekend, and some positives to take away,” Doohan said of this opening three events of the year.
“As long as you learn from the weather, the setbacks, things I can improve on, how to get closer and you digest them, then you can make sure you know where those positives came from and how to replicate them.
“The biggest thing this weekend is just to put the weekend together, have a smooth from start to finish, and just keep building and keep inching closer and closer so that we can start to get that complete package.”
For the first time since the opening round in Australia, Doohan will have three hours of practice ahead of him in Bahrain this weekend.
The Chinese Grand Prix was a Sprint event, dramatically cutting the available practice time, and in Japan he sat out opening practice in favour of Ryo Hirakawa, who was named as one of the team’s reserve drivers during the off-season.
In the days since the Japanese Grand Prix, Hirakawa has left the squad and joined Haas, where he will replace Oliver Bearman during opening practice in Bahrain on Friday.
Doohan, meanwhile, remains alongside Pierre Gasly for Alpine, which now boasts only three reserve drivers on its roster.
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