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Japanese Grand Prix: Daniil Kvyat starts from pitlane after his biggest crash
Red Bull`s Daniil Kvyat will start Sunday`s Japanese Formula One Grand Prix from the pitlane after turning his car into the biggest wreck of his career.
Suzuka, Japan: Red Bull`s Daniil Kvyat will start Sunday`s Japanese Formula One Grand Prix from the pitlane after turning his car into the biggest wreck of his career.
"Clearly, we will have a very long night producing a car for him to race tomorrow," said team principal Christian Horner after the Russian`s accident brought a premature end to qualifying.
"He will have to start from pit lane and has nothing to lose so he will be running an aggressive race."
Kvyat was unhurt in the crash, given a clean bill of health after a trip to the circuit medical centre and then sounding remarkably upbeat as he chatted to reporters in the team hospitality.
"I am OK, and you?," he enquired cheerfully.
"I think they told me it (the impact) was about 20G or something, I thought I could do better than that."
With Formula One already in a sombre mood on the paddock`s return to Suzuka a year on from French driver Jules Bianchi`s ultimately fatal accident, another big crash made for a tense moment.
Kvyat got a rear wheel onto the grass as he approached the hairpin, losing control as the car veered sideways and then slammed into the wall before flipping -- "a rolling procedure" he called it -- and coming to rest with the left side wheels ripped off.
"I wouldn`t say the car looked great," he said. "So I will be supporting them (the mechanics) tonight, I am not as good as they are at building the car but I will try to stay with them as long as I can tonight.
"I mainly feel sorry for them. But it was a missed opportunity because the lap wasn`t looking too bad until then."
Kvyat, in his first year with Red Bull after a season at sister team Toro Rosso, had to rack his brains for a bigger accident at any previous stage of his career and failed to come up with one.
"By far the hardest for sure," he said, estimating his speed at around 180-190kph at the time he lost control. "I never had a car crash until now. Maybe in karting but I never rolled a car before.
"Unfortunately there is a first time for everything."