Pascal Wehrlein admits he found his qualifying crash scary after losing control in a straight line early in the session.
With heavy rain having hit the circuit ahead of FP3, the track had been drying ahead of qualifying but two wet patches remained under the main grandstand and pit complex. Wehrlein was starting a flying lap on slick tyres when he lost control over a bump in the wet section, hitting the barrier on the outside of the track.
Asked it was a scary moment, Wehrlein replied: "Definitely.
"You are going quite fast on this part. I am disappointed and unhappy but if you lose the car in the corner it is your mistake, but if you lose it on the straight [it is] something really strange."
And Wehrlein downplayed the significance of having his DRS open at the time of the incident, suggesting it was simply the track conditions which were to blame.
"Not really sure if DRS makes a difference. At the end of qualifying [Sergio] Perez still nearly crashed at the same place and the track was much drier then. I think it is just a combination of this bump and the track behind that being really wet, so it was just not wet, there was standing water behind the bump.
"It is dangerous with slick tyres, but if you have the slick tyres [on] you have one or two shots - and for sure you don’t break before the bump and accelerate again."
Max Verstappen wrapped up his opening day at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix sounding upbeat…
McLaren boss Zak Brown has brushed off a claim from Australian senator Matt Canavan that…
Lando Norris closed out Friday at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with authority, topping the…
Full results from Free Practice 2 for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina,…
Intrigue is swirling around Adrian Sutil after the former Grand Prix driver was arrested in…
On this day in 1975, a somber mood enveloped St Albans Abbey in Hertfordshire as…