Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo says he was “caught by surprise” with the spin that caused his crash during qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix.
The home favourite made it through to Q3 but with eight minutes left on the clock, he lost control of his car at Turn 14, spinning off with the rear of his RB13 hitting the wall. The crash brought out the red flag and caused a six-minute delay to the session.
Ricciardo failed to put in a timed lap and ended Q3 down in 10th, admitting afterwards there was no way of catching the slide.
"I'm physically OK, but emotionally, obviously, a little bit disappointed with the outcome," he explained following the crash.
“At least it didn't happen in Q1. I'll try to have a bit of perspective on this. We made progress, in Q2 we made a big step forward, Q1 was not very competitive.
Gallery: Click here for the latest image from qualifying in Melbourne
“We found something there, but the lap in Q3 was a little bit messy and Turn 14 caught me out, caught me by surprise.
“I just went in and then the rear broke away. Unfortunately, there wasn't a way of catching it and saving that.”
Although disappointed to be starting tenth, Ricciardo said he wasn't disappointed by the fact he crashed as it proves he was pushing to the limit.
"I don’t crash into the barriers often and the last place I want to do that is at home. But I feel I crashed for the right reason, as I was basically pushing and trying to find the limit and these things happen, so let’s say I’m not disappointed by the approach, it was just more of a frustrating outcome."
