Ricciardo rues red flag error in Baku qualifying

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Qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix had been surprisingly incident free until deep in the final round. Then, with just under four minutes on the clock, Daniel Ricciardo spun and his Red Bull hit the wall.

"It's obviously frustrating when you crash, but in Q3 you are trying to give everything," he said afterwards.

"I knew turn six was a corner where I could do better," he explained. "I was trying to carry more speed but I lost the rear on the exit and hit the wall.

"The rear was coming round and I tried to drive out of it, but it kept going. The wall kind of comes back round a bit so I hit it.

"It's not the wall's fault, obviously! I'm not blaming the wall!

"I was just pushing hard and on the edge of the grip," he continued. "Sure I'm not happy with the mistake but it's one of those tracks.

"Part of me doesn't like it right now but the reality is that I do like street circuits for these reasons," he added. "It shows when you are on the limit and you pay the price when you are over that limit.

"It's a shame as I thought we could have been fighting at the front today

Hamilton beats Bottas to pole position in Baku

Despite the crash, Ricciardo could still start in tenth place provided there's no engine or gearbox damage. His team mate Max Verstappen will line-up fifth on the grid.

"I'm not disheartened for tomorrow," he insisted. "I think so much can happen around here. Even if it is a one stop race I'm sure we can make progress."

"This weekend Max and I have been happy with the balance of the car and it is responding well."

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was disappointed to see his drivers unable to achieve what he felt was their full potential in qualifying.

"After such promising free practice sessions it's perhaps slightly underwhelming," he admitted.

"Daniel unfortunately clipped the barrier - that we know are pretty unforgiving out here - eliminating him from qualifying on the spot.

"We were certainly hoping for more than fifth and tenth," he acknowledged. "But hopefully from those grid positions we can have a competitive race, in what will no doubt be an action-packed grand prix."

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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.