‘Wouldn’t say the car looks great’: Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat laughs off major crash

'I'm mostly sorry for the guys who will have quite a big job' said Daniil Kvyat on Saturday, referring to the Red Bull mechanics who will essentially have to rebuild his car entirely following a major qualifying crash.

Red Bull Racing driver Daniil Kvyat shown on Saturday during the practice session prior to Japanese Grand Prix qualifying. Toru Yamanaka / AFP / September 26, 2015

SUZUKA, JAPAN // Daniil Kvyat apologised to his Red Bull Racing mechanics after his crash in qualifying yesterday for today's Japanese Grand Prix left them with a tough task to build him a new car in time for the race start.

The Russian crashed on his sole flying lap in the final part of qualifying, running wide on the approach to the hairpin at Turn 11 and spinning violently into the barriers, ripping the two wheels on the left-hand side of the car off and rolling over once before coming to rest.

Such is the damage that Red Bull are to build the Russian, 21, a new chassis, but under the regulations racing a car with parts different to the one qualified with means starting from the pit lane, so Kvyat will begin Sunday’s race from there rather than from the 10th place he qualified in.

Read more: Graham Caygill on how normal service was restored for Mercedes in qualifying

Kvyat said: “I’m mostly sorry for the guys who will have quite a big job.

“I wouldn’t say the car looks great, so I will be supporting them tonight.

“I’m not as good as they are at building the car but I will try to stay with them as late as I can tonight.”

Kvyat confirmed the accident had been the biggest of his short Formula One career, and he displayed a sense of humour about it after being declared fit to race following a visit to the Suzuka Circuit's medical centre.

“This is by far the hardest,” he said of the crash.

“They told me it was 20g or something. I’m not sure – I thought I could do better than that.

“I never rolled a car, so unfortunately there’s a first time for everything.”

Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal, said he was just relieved that Kvyat had escaped unharmed from the incident.

“The most important thing today is that Dani is alright after what was a very big accident,” he said. “It’s a testament to the strength of these cars and shows why safety is always our priority in this sport.”

Kvyat’s teammate Daniel Ricciardo will start seventh on the grid and he is confident that he can improve on that position in the race.

“I don’t think seventh shows how happy I was with the car, because I thought we were on for a top five, but we’re still in a good place for tomorrow,” the Australian said.

“We’re also in a good place for tyre wear, so we’ll see what happens.”

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