The Haas F1 team has a long evening ahead of it in order to rebuild Romain Grosjean's car for the second time in two weeks, after the Frenchman crashed out of qualifying in Japan.
It's the Frenchman's second crash in a fortnight, although his off in Malaysia wasn't his fault as a loose drain cover catapulted him into the barriers. However in Suzuka on Saturday, the onus was very much on Grosjean as he admitted he lost control, but blamed it on a surprising amount of oversteer.
"The first run was actually really good," explained the 31-year-old. "I had a big moment into turn 11, which lost me a lot of time on Kevin. So, I think the car was capable of going into the top ten in Q1.
"I went for the second run, doing pretty much the same thing, and the car just had a lot of oversteer for no reason. We need to analyse that.
"For sure, I attacked turn three a bit faster than I had on the previous lap, but nothing crazy. I just lost it there and tried to save what I could for turn four, but it was too late. I tried to keep it on track as much as I could, to avoid a crash, but I lost it a second time and had to go wide.
"Once I was on the grass, it was wet, so it threw me into the barrier."
Team boss Guenther Steiner is hopeful that the team's luck will soon turn as a long evening of repairs beckons.
"A tough day again, but it looks like Kevin is starting 12th tomorrow. That’s not a bad position to start here.
"We have to see with Romain just how big the damage is on his car and if we need to change something that will give us a penalty. Otherwise, a tough, long day for the whole team.
"It doesn’t seem that luck is on our side at the moment, but it will turn. We just have to look up and get ready for the race tomorrow, and try to at least get one car into the points."
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