Wilson: I pushed as hard as I could

Bourdais continually pulled away from the Briton after each yellow flag period, and Wilson admitted to having to back off during the latter stages when he was struggling for grip on his tyres.

Bourdais eventually won by 14 seconds

"I kept pushing harder and harder, but I got to the point where I locked the left front into Turn 1," Wilson said.

"The front gave away. I couldn't hold the apex in any of the left-hand corners. I had to back off a couple of tenths and not do anything stupid and hit the wall.

"I tried to run as fast a pace as I could under the circumstances. It would have been very easy to charge too deep into the corners and wash out and hit the wall. I had to leave a little bit of margin at the crucial corners.

"The rest of the time, I pushed it as hard as I dare under those circumstances."