Antonio Giovinazzi apologised to his Sauber team after he suffered a heavy crash during the closing stages of Q1 at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Giovinazzi, chasing a slot in the second knockout phase of qualifying, lost control of his C36-Ferrari exiting the final corner and speared into the barriers on the outside of the corner.
Giovinazzi ultimately made it through to Q2 courtesy of his earlier lap, with the consequent yellow flags for his wreckage denying his rivals the chance to improve, but was unable to partake in the session.
The Italian, substituting for the unfit Pascal Wehrlein once more, is set to start from 15th place on the grid.
“For me it was a disappointing ending to qualifying,” said Giovinazzi.
“It was all good until the last corner of my final lap. I was already in Q2 and improving my lap time, but I pushed a bit too much.
“I touched the grass in the exit of the last corner and then lost the rear of the car.
“I apologise to the team for what happened; tomorrow I will do my best to put in a good performance.”
Giovinazzi’s team-mate, Marcus Ericsson, will start one place higher in 14th position.
