Alex Albon has confirmed that he got caught out by a tailwind when he crashed out of the first qualifying session for the Russian Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver lost the rear of his car as he entered Turn 13 and crashed in to the barrier, causing a red flag to come out whilst they recovered the car.

It meant that Albon finished the session in 19th place, and the slowest of the runners with Toro Rosso driver, Daniil Kvyat not taking part in the session.

“There’s nothing really to say other than I went in a bit hot like Max did in FP3 and I lost the rear.” commented Albon.

“There’s a tailwind in that corner and it just caught me out.

“It was a silly mistake – that’s pretty much it and it’s just frustrating.”

Albon now faces a tough fight in Sunday’s race, starting from the back of the grid and he is hoping he will fare better in the race having struggled for confidence on long runs in practice.

“I haven’t really had the confidence during the weekend and I’ve struggled since FP1 but it was starting to come together and I was feeling more comfortable and getting into a rhythm coming into qualifying.” added the Red Bull rookie.

“I think this is one of those tracks where if you’re not confident in one corner, you’re not confident in any corner and that’s kind of how I felt up to qualifying.

“We’re starting out of place but I’m optimistic as the car feels good in the long runs and you can also overtake here.

“We’ve seen before when starting at the back that we can progress through the field so we’ll give it everything tomorrow.”