'Less right, more left': Jack Doohan explains nightmare crash at maiden Australian Grand Prix

MELBOURNE: Jack Doohan had never driven an F1 car in the wet until he drove out of the pits ahead of the Australian Grand Prix.

Unfortunately, his maiden home race lasted only a matter of corners before he crashed out on the run between turn five and turn six.

Doohan appeared to break into wheelspin, possibly on a slippery painted line, and then lost control and crashed.

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Doohan said the sighting laps on the way to the grid "felt OK", and was at a loss as to exactly what went wrong.

"I lost it on the third-to-fourth-gear upshift. As soon as I went into fourth, I lost the car," he told media including Wide World of Sports.

"So there are some things I'm going to need to understand, because for me that wasn't out of the normal.

"Maybe a combination of the white line, but it seems that we had a spike in RPM when I've upshifted to fourth.

"We're just double checking to make sure everything is behaving itself. Maybe a little bit less right foot, a little bit more left."

Doohan said the crash was a lesson learned from "big consequences".

Doohan's Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly finished 11th, meaning the team leaves Melbourne without a point to its name.

Despite the crash, Doohan said there were still plenty of positives to be taken from the weekend.

In qualifying on Saturday, he was on for a time that would've put him in the top 10 before he was dudded by a yellow flag after Lewis Hamilton spun.

Doohan is under pressure to keep his seat after the team hired gun Argentinian Franco Colapinto as a reserve driver.

Colapinto brings with him big sponsorship dollars, which Doohan does not. The Gold Coast product reportedly had as few as three races heading into Melbourne to perform, or be replaced.

Doohan on Thursday told media he had a contract for at least this year, if not longer, but planned to enjoy every race as if it was his last.

He echoed those comments on Sunday afternoon.

"Every time I'm in the car I want to enjoy it; you have to enjoy today and look forward to tomorrow," he said.

"Each time I get to hop into these machines ... it's a privilege.

"I look forward to many more home grands prix, and to the rest of the season."

The F1 season continues in Shanghai next weekend.