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."
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has insisted that the squad has no regrets about their…
On this day in 1989, Williams' Thierry Boutsen secured his second F1 win when he…
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner hailed Max Verstappen’s sensational Sao Paulo Grand Prix victory…
Carlos Sainz was left scratching his head after a disastrous Sunday at the Sao Paulo…
Fernando Alonso braved both physical agony and mechanical challenges in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix,…
Alpine’s remarkable double podium at the São Paulo Grand Prix with Esteban Ocon and Pierre…