Di Resta: I would have won

The ASM driver was in third place heading into the braking area for Lisboa when his rear wheels locked up under braking, and he was powerless to prevent himself from sliding into the back of pole man and teammate Kamui Kobayashi. The pair took leader Marko Asmer with them down the escape road.

Di Resta made it back onto the track after a spin but crashed out later that lap after colliding with Rodolfo Avila.

"Of course I am disappointed, but what can you do?," said di Resta. "If I had stayed on the track then I would have won it. I was so comfortable with the car and confident that it was quick enough to win.

"I had made a good start, but I must have hit a bump when I got on the brakes. The rear wheels locked up completely and then I could not do anything to stop myself from hitting Kamui. It is a shame."

Di Resta said that he was blameless, however, for the accident with Avila. The crash resulted in him smashing into the barriers at Fishermen's Bend.

"I was overtaking him and he just turned in on me," he said. "I guess he had not seen me. Our wheels were interlocked and when he realised I was there, he hit the brakes just as I was getting full on the throttle.

"That threw me up in the air and off the track. It was a big crash."