Paul di Resta laments missed opportunity in qualifying for the European Grand Prix

The Force India driver was third fastest in Q2 and was on a lap that had the potential to put him in the top five when he made a mistake.

"It's going to take a few hours to reflect on it," he said. "It was a bit of a missed opportunity.

"On the last lap, I tried as much as I could and unfortunately locked the rears and an inside wheel as well at Turn 17. The lap was identical to Q2 at that point and it would have been the same probably."

Di Resta's Q2 time would have been good enough to earn him sixth on the grid, and the Scot suspects that he could have improved on that lap in the final sector without his mistake.

"Looking at it realistically P4 [was possible]," said di Resta. "If I'd improve in the last sector then possibly P3. It was in there.

"The positive side is we've showed we're very competitive, but I don't have to tell, if you look at the sector times, what happened.

"It cost us a lot of positions, but that's the difference from an exceptional lap to the one I had."