Antonio Giovinazzi apologised to his team after crashing out of qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix in the closing stages, which heavily damaged his car and caused the session to be red flagged.
The twenty-three-year-old Italian, sitting in again for the recuperating Pascal Wehrlein in the Sauber F1 Team, was on a quick lap but lost control at the final corner, hitting the barriers hard and causing considerable damage to his C36-Ferrari.
Giovinazzi’s previous lap time of 1:34.963s was ultimately enough for him to qualify fifteenth, although the crash ensured his qualifying was over despite doing enough to advance through to Q2, and could be in line for a grid penalty if he needs a new gearbox.
“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, touched the grass in the exit of the last corner and then lost the rear of the car.
“I apologize to the team for what happened. Tomorrow I will do my best to put in a good performance.”
