Pascal Wehrlein apologised to his Sauber team after he crashed out of qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix.
Sauber has struggled for pace at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, off the back of a difficult weekend in Monaco, with Wehrlein and team-mate Marcus Ericsson battling to escape Q1.
Wehrlein drifted over the grass on the approach to Turn 1 on his final flying lap and spun backwards into the barriers.
The German will start from the back of the grid, barring any penalties for rivals.
“What’s for sure is it was my mistake,” he explained after the session. “It’s another long day for the mechanics, which I’m very sorry about.
“Since Monaco we’ve not been there with the pace, struggling with the car and every day has been a long day for the mechanics, changing the car.
“Now it’s another long day because of my mistake so I’m sorry for that.”
Wehrlein briefly explained the incident, which brought out the yellow flags, scuppering the final efforts for several rivals.
“I went too far on the right side to get as much speed as possible into the corner,” he said. “But I went on the white line, a bit on the grass and I lost the car.”
Wehrlein’s Sauber team-mate Ericsson qualified in 19th position.
