Just as Lewis Hamilton was getting ready for one final lap during Q3, possibly securing pole position for himself, this happened.
Yesterday’s Japanese Grand Prix start took place on a grid shaped basically by this incident alone. With only a few minutes left (one run for each team), Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat clipped the grass, slid into the barriers and then got caught in the gravel which caused the car to flip over.
It was definitely scary to watch, even more so from the driver’s perspective one would imagine – though it was probably over in a split second for him.
As his race engineer gets on the radio, Kvyat sounds pretty shaken up, you can hear it in his voice too, being a bit winded. Also, is it just me or does the race engineer sound kind of frustrated when asking “What happened there mate”?
What matters most is that Daniil was OK and that he went on to start the race the next day – be it from the pit lane. And yes, Suzuka is famous for its short run-off areas, being very old fashioned that way. Some drivers might appreciate the thrill, until they mess up that is.