Strangely, no less than three drivers came to grief at the double-apexed corner, as Heikki Kovalainen spun on his out-lap and Michael Schumacher also ended up in the fence after performing a carbon copy of the di Resta incident.

“The morning session was straightforward and the balance was good straight after lunch, with the changes we had made to the car,” the Force India driver recalled.

“Unfortunately, I made a mistake quite early on and was probably a bit too ambitious; I found myself with my two right side wheels on the grass and lost grip on the loose dirt. It’s a shame it had to happen so early in the session and it creates extra work for the guys tonight. You have to be on the edge to feel what the car is doing and sometimes these things happen, but hopefully it won’t cost us too much.”

Confirming the rapid Force India pace so far this weekend, Nico Hülkenberg ended the day in fourth position behind World Champion Sebastian Vettel.