Jack Doohan has been involved in a high-speed crash during Formula One practice in Japan before fellow Australian Oscar Piastri topped the time sheets.
Rookie Doohan was on his fourth lap in the second practice session at Suzuka on Friday (AEDT) when his car lost grip on the way to turn one.
He spun into the gravel before colliding with the tyre barrier, with his Alpine car suffering significant damage and losing two wheels.
"I'm OK," Doohan told his team by radio.
The 22-year-old, attended by medics, appeared to move gingerly as he exited the track.
The Alpine team later posted: "Following precautionary checks, we can confirm Jack is ok. Now we are working hard to get the car ready for tomorrow."
The practice session was paused for 20 minutes under a red flag.
Doohan - who sat out first practice as Ryo Hirakawa drove the Alpine - had suffered an early race-ending crash at the rain-hit, season-opening Australian Grand Prix in March.
The Gold Coast product, already under pressure entering the second round of his first full-time F1 season, then finished 16th in China after suffering a 10-second penalty.
Piastri again looks set for a battle with his championship-leading teammate Lando Norris after the McLaren pair set the pace at Suzuka on Friday.
Piastri finished the day on top, only 0.049 seconds clear of Norris, who was more than four tenths clear of third-placed Isack Hadjar.
McLaren have won the first two races of the season - Norris winning in Australia and Piastri in China - and are favourites heading into this weekend at Suzuka.
Piastri finished only 15th in the first session - topped by Norris - but the second running was more representative as the pair look the drivers to beat heading into qualifying on Saturday.
"It's been a bit of an up-and-down day but there's definitely been positives in there," said Piastri.
" We've got a few things to tidy up for tomorrow. FP2 was a pretty stop-start session, which made it tricky to go through everything but there were still some good learnings.
"A couple of tweaks and we'll be good to go."
Lewis Hamilton finished the day fourth fastest for Ferrari ahead of New Zealand's Liam Lawson on his return to Racing Bulls, having been ditched by Red Bull after only two races.
Four-time world champion Max Verstappen was eighth fastest when the chequered flag fell, with new Red Bull team-mate Yuki Tsunoda 18th.
The second session was red-flagged four times.
Fernando Alonso's trip into the gravel brought out the second, while grass catching fire at the side of the circuit twice interrupted the session.
- with PA
