Nyck de Vries says that he fully accepts fault for his retirement at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday.
The AlphaTauri driver clipped the wall at Turn 5 early on into the grand prix, which resulted in terminal damage to the AT03 car.
De Vries was running in 12th place at the time, having made up a handful of positions when some of his rivals ahead pitted for fresh tyres.
The result marked de Vries’ first official retirement of the year and concluded a difficult weekend for the Formula 2 and Formula E champion.
Reflecting on the incident after the race, de Vries said: “It was fully my mistake, very silly and very unnecessary.
“That’s on me, nothing more to add. Just disappointed with myself.
“It is what it is, I screwed up. I paid the price. There are positives to take away from this weekend and I’ll try to look at them.
“I am happy to be racing again next week so I forget this weekend as soon as possible.”
The disappointment within the team was somewhat eased by Yuki Tsunoda’s run to 10th place, as he scored a crucial point for the Red Bull sister team.
The Japanese driver says that he was under high pressure to deliver the result and was pleased with his performance.
“We didn’t get many chances to do long runs this weekend but to be able to demonstrate a strong pace, and build on this performance throughout the race, was awesome from the team,” he said.
“I am also happy with my performance. I was consistent, and being sandwiched between the two McLarens meant any mistake would cost us the point.
“It took a lot of concentration but in the end, we were able to achieve another top-ten finish.
“There is still room for development and improvement to fight for points consistently, but I have confidence in my team to race stronger in the future.”
