Qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix was stopped after just three minutes following a crash involving Pascal Wehrlein.
The Manor driver lost control of his car on a bump on the start/finish straight and hit the barrier with the left-rear of the car.
The rookie driver was unhurt in the crash but the session was immediately red-flagged so his car could be recovered and the track could be examined. The session was suspended for over 20 minutes while marshals dried the surrounding area of track.
The team said on Twitter “it was actually the bump on the straight where he lost the car, not the patch of water”. Wehrlein had joined the track on super-soft tyres while some other drivers were using intermediates. Manor said their “gamble on super soft was paying off” before his crash.
Wehrlein had been using DRS when he hit the wet. Other drivers, including Daniel Ricciardo, said they did not try to take the bump using DRS until later in the session when the track had dried.
Ricciardo said he didn’t use DRS initially in Q1 and Q2 “just to play it safe”.
“Then Q3 we managed to keep it open. It’s not so much the wet patch, it’s the bump, which then unloads the rear and then, on the wet it’s coincidence where the bump is and where the bridge.”
“It’s more the bump than the wet patch itself causing some issues. It was a bit edgy the first few runs and then it was OK.”
Sviatoslav (@)
16th April 2016, 9:49
I really do not like that bump. If they do not change it or do anything they can to flatten the surface, then I expect a couple of incidents on the straight. Imagine one could happen when someone is trying to overtake the driver in front, then he moves to the left (while jumping on the bump), and he simply crashes in the wall.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
16th April 2016, 17:39
Not a cool sight… had that happened in the race, with all the spray and limited visibility, god knows what would’ve happened.
It seems a bit weird, tho, that they didn’t try to dry the track at those two spots where the bridges are. That sudden change in conditions can’t be good.
Mog
17th April 2016, 0:00
Wehrlein actually held that one together pretty well i thought, reacted really well to recover to just a side knock. You could see him in the replay calmly shifting down and then applying throttle at just the right moment to spin the car back level with the wall.
gunusugeh (@gunusugeh)
17th April 2016, 0:29
owhh, i thought it was the other guy LOL