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At the end of final qualifying, Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat, who had been the pacesetter for the early practice sessions, lost control of his car after it ran over a patch of grass at the Suzuka Circuit. Spinning out of control, the Russian’s vehicle ran into the gravel, hit the barrier and flipped over. The damage to the car was severe, with half the vehicle missing.
Footage shows a clean break in Kvyat’s suspension, leading to the front left tyre coming cleanly off the car and spinning out. Kvyat himself was thankfully safe and walked away from the crash unscathed, if a little shaken.
Qualifying at the Japanese Grand Prix concluded earlier today with Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg taking pole position ahead of his teammate and reigning champion at the track, Lewis Hamilton. Williams’ Valtteri Bottas rounded up the top 3, with Ferrari significantly lower down. 4-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel finished in 4th after the Italian outfit failed to make an impact in the practice sessions as well.
Bottas’ Williams teammate Felipe Massa, who has done well at Suzuka in the past with his former team, Scuderia Ferrari – the Brazilian finished 2nd in 2012 – followed in 4th place ahead of Vettel’s teammate Kimi Raikkonen.
Max Verstappen of Scuderia Toro Rosso suffered a total power failure at the end of first qualifying, bringing his car to a halt at the side of the track. Although the 17-year-old had a good enough time to progress to Q2, the failure ended his qualifying session. He would eventually be handed a 3-place grid penalty.
Drivers, crew and spectators will be on edge, as the circuit saw F1’s most tragic incident in 21 years with young driver Jules Bianchi of Manor-Marussia suffering severe injuries at the track during a rain soaked 2014 Japanese GP. The Frenchman went into a coma then, one that he would never wake up from. He passed away earlier this year.
Several drivers and rival teams expressed relief that the Russian was unhurt, among them Mercedes and Ferrari.
Kvyat will have a new chassis for tomorrow’s race, said Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, and he will begin the race in the pit lane.
