Monaco GP: Daniil Kvyat 'lucky' shunt didn't end his qualifying

The Russian lost control of his car on a bump under braking for the chicane after the tunnel and smashed the nose of the Toro Rosso on the right-hand barrier.

He continued to the pits, replaced the nose and scraped through the first segment of the session by setting the 16th fastest time, before going on to qualify ninth on his first visit to the Monte Carlo street circuit.

"In particular moments there are some things that happen for the first time and there is nothing you can really do," Kvyat said when asked by AUTOSPORT about the incident.

"I just caught the bump in the wrong way and it snapped my rear completely away.

"I just lost control and I think I was lucky I could continue the session."

Kvyat said he was also surprised by how competitive the Toro Rossos were in Monte Carlo, after getting both cars through to Q3 in dry conditions for the first time in 2014.

"To be honest we did not expect to have an easy one on this track," Kvyat added.

"Today the track was better than Thursday, which helped my confidence because there was more grip.

"In the end you just have to have a good feeling with the car, a good feeling with the tyres, and try to attack and put the lap together. I just felt really confident today."

VERGNE COULD HAVE BEATEN RAIKKONEN

Kvyat's team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne scored his best dry qualifying result of the season by going seventh fastest in the sister Toro Rosso.

He topped Q1 and reckoned he could have beaten Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari to sixth but for the yellow flags brought out by Nico Rosberg running straight on at Mirabeau in the dying minutes.

"P7 is pretty encouraging. I think there was three tenths left, [but for] the yellow flag from Rosberg in the end," Vergne said.

"I'm still happy. I think [beating] Raikkonen should have been possible.

"I don't say I would have, but he was two tenths up and it would easily have been possible to get those two tenths."