F1 rookie Alexander Rossi upset with crash in Singapore GP practice

The American was lapping within a few thousandths of team-mate Will Stevens, but he hit the barrier at Turn 18 in the final minutes of FP1, bringing out the red flag.

Rossi conceded it was his mistake after getting caught out by a change the team made to the car and he was frustrated that it cost him track time in the afternoon session too.

"I was quite upset to be honest," he told AUTOSPORT. "It's not what you want to do in your first session.

"We were trying a couple of new things and I didn't really expect the change to be as extreme as it was.

"It was a small mistake but a big consequence because of where it was.

"I'm quite critical of myself and it is something I could have avoided so that is less than the optimum.

"But the team has moved on from it, I've moved on from it.

"They did a great job to get the car back out for FP2.

"We didn't get to do our long runs which has put us on the back foot but fortunately there's another session tomorrow.

"FP3 will be very busy, we'll try and do as many laps as we can."

Despite the setback, Rossi remained positive ahead of his race debut on Sunday - the first of five appearances he'll make for Manor in the remainder of the season.

"I got up to speed very quickly," he said. "I felt comfortable in the car straight away,

"I don't feel like I need laps to go quickly round here. I just need laps to understand how tyres work and how we manage it.

"I'm feeling quite confident for tomorrow. I'm a little less confident for the race because we don't know where we stand yet."