Romain Grosjean apologised to his Haas team after he crashed out behind the Safety Car at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Grosjean started from the rear of the grid on Softs and pitted for Supersofts on lap two – during the first Safety Car phase – and moved up the order as his rivals made their stops.
The second Safety Car phase, caused by the collision between the Red Bull drivers, promoted Grosjean into sixth place, as he chased his first points of the season.
But while warming his tyres the Frenchman’s Haas VF-18 speared right as he approached Turn 14 and he slammed into the wall.
“This hurts a lot and I want to apologise to the team," said Grosjean.
"We were in the middle of an amazing race, starting last and running sixth.
"Seeing [Sergio] Perez on the podium, knowing I was fighting with him, is very painful for all of us. It was going very well.
"There was a lot of wind, the car was going left and right, pushing then not pushing," he explained.
"I was warming up my tyres and bumped into a switch that I’d moved by two positions.
“When I touched the brakes, the brake balance was locked rearward – it just locked the rear wheels and I spun.”
“It's always hard when you lose so many points and obviously when you crash under the Safety Car.”
Grosjean is one of only two drivers, along with Williams’ Sergey Sirotkin, yet to score a point this year.
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