Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsRed Bull Racing

Kvyat to start from pit lane after shunt

Daniil Kvyat will have to start from the pit lane for tomorrow's Japanese Grand Prix after his heavy crash in qualifying.

The Russian put two wheels on the grass at Turn 10 - the right-hand kink before the hairpin - on his final run in Q3 and lost control, hitting the barrier on the outside of the track at high-speed and rolling in the gravel trap. The heavily damaged car needs to be rebuilt by Red Bull, with the stewards having been asked to re-scrutineer it once it is repaired.

With a number of components needing to be replaced, team principal Christian Horner says the team will set Kvyat up to be "aggressive" in tomorrow's race.

“The most important thing today is that Dany is alright after what was a very big accident in Q3," Horner said. "It’s a testament to the strength of these cars and shows why safety is always our priority in this sport.

"Clearly, we will have a very long night producing a car for him to race tomorrow. He will have to start from pit lane and has nothing to lose so he will be running an aggressive race."

And Kvyat himself described the accident as the "hardest" of his career, saying he will help rebuild the car if he can.

"By far the hardest [crash]. I never had a car crash until now… maybe in karting, I have never rolled a car. Unfortunately there is a first time for everything. It felt the hardest of my career, for sure.

"I am mostly sorry for the guys, who have had to do quite a big job… I wouldn’t say the car looked great, so I will be supporting the guys. I am not as good as they are at building a car but I will stay with them as long as I can tonight. I feel sorry for them but it is a missed opportunity as the lap wasn’t looking too bad until then."

REPORT: Rosberg takes pole after huge Kvyat crash

Crash 'was a rookie mistake' - Kvyat

AS IT HAPPENED: Japanese Grand Prix Qualifying

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.