Yuki Tsunoda berated himself over his attempt to be a "hero" during the first part of qualifying for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver pushed his RB21 too hard in Q1 at Imola, which instigated his terrifying barrel-roll crash at the Variante Villeneuve, the same part of the circuit Roland Ratzenberger lost his life 31 years ago.
Having labelled his own approach to the session "unnecessary", the Japanese driver will start from P20, if not from the pit lane, whilst Max Verstappen qualified second.
A disparity in results between the Dutchman and his team-mates has been a running theme for some time, and Tsunoda has thus far been unable to remedy the issue, scoring just nine points in four rounds together.
Meanwhile, the four-time F1 drivers' champion has claimed 63, a ratio of seven to one.
When asked by RacingNews365 whether the catalyst for his mistake was internal pressure at the Milton Keynes-based team, the 25-year-old stated he did not believe it was.
"I don't think so," Tsunoda responded to the media present. "The team is supporting me enough to take the pressure off as much as possible.
"I just tried to be a hero in Q1, which is a bit unnecessary - and aiming for myself to pass Q1 with just one set [of tyres]...
"Also, I made a lot of changes to the car, [therefore], you don't know much about the car, how the car is going to react to everything: high speed, medium speed, slow speed - and that kind of corner, you need it...
"I had confidence that I could handle it, but at the same time... to be honest, this kind of really excuse, but it's just experience in the car, car changes, and how the car reacted is bit unexpected.
"But, I know the reason that caused that kind of balance into the corner."
When it was put to him that not having to be a hero was a lesson learned for him, Tsunoda replied: "Yeah, it's been five years in Formula 1, so crashing in Q1 after such a long time, and how I did it, is obviously not acceptable."
Also interesting:
WATCH: Ferrari humiliation as Tsunoda suffers terrifying barrel roll smash
Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes and Nick Golding, as they dissect a thrilling qualifying session at Imola, ahead of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix!
Get the latest F1 news from RacingNews365 directly in your Google feed! Click on the link below and you’ll see your favourite F1 website appearing even more often. That way, you’ll never miss any news, analyses, interviews, or exclusives.
Follow RacingNews365 on GoogleMost read
In this article
Never miss a thing from the Formula 1 season! Add the 2026 F1 schedule to your calendar at the touch of a button. Subscribe below and put the dates and times of every race directly on your PC or smartphone, so you don't miss a second from the new season.
Download the F1 calendar Download the F1 calendar
A variant with just the race and qualifying is also available.
Click here to download it..
Join the conversation!