Romain Grosjean was the first day's victim of the treacherous conditions which have drowned the start of the Brazilian Grand Prix and red-flagged the race after 21 laps.
The Haas driver, who had qualified a brilliant seventh, aquaplaned up the hill and crashed on the exit of the final corner during the formation lap to the grid, resulting in a terminal incident for Haas and the Frenchman.
"I went from hero to zero in 24 hours," said an obviously disappointed Grosjean.
"I feel so bad the team and the boys. I was going up the hill, not even flat out, and I picked up a lot of wheelspin and just spun the car. It was nothing I could control."
Speaking after the race had gotten underway, Grosjean was puzzled to see some of his colleagues switching to intermediate tyres while the downpour continued unabated.
"There's no grip, so you have to take a huge amount of risk to go to teh extreme because they are just faster. But yoiu can't control the car in a straight line."
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