Maldonado confident qualifying-like incident will not happen again

The Williams driver lost control of his car after Parabolica, crashing into the barriers and damaging his car's front wing.

Although technical director Sam Michael said Maldonado had simply opened the DRS too early, the Venezuelan said that was not the issue, and admitted he was surprised by what had happened.

The rookie, however, believes the problem won't happen again.

"For me it was completely a surprise because I was already in a straightline, it was not on the corner," said Maldonado. "I lost the car completely. I just spun.

"It was so strange. My foot was flat on the throttle, the wing had been open for three hundred metres. Maybe I hit something on the track."

He added: "I was so lucky to be honest. It was not really a crash, I just brushed the front wing. I am confident with the car, you know, I don't know exactly what happened with the car but I am sure it won't happen again."

Maldonado qualified in 14th position despite the crash, but said 12th was possible despite admitting he was worried about Williams's pace on Friday.

"I think it is a combination of many things," he said of Williams's problems. "The balance, the aero, the mechanical balance you know. A bit of engine.

"Driveability is a bit of a problem there. But we were pushing so hard. On Friday I was a bit of scared because the pace was so slow.

"We were losing a lot in the straights, and because of the reliability of the engine we improved much more and the car was competitive. I was thinking it would be difficult to make Q2 to be honest, but 12th was possible."