Television footage showed the car suddenly spearing left at speed as he applied the brakes at the first chicane moments after the afternoon session had started.
The car flipped three or four times before coming to rest on the grass the right way up. Replays suggested that the car's drag reduction system (DRS) -- a flap that opens and closes on the rear wing -- had failed.
"I don't know what happened there," he said over the radio before stepping out.
Ericsson went to the medical centre for precautionary checks while the session was suspended for marshals to clear the debris.
The Swede gave a thumbs-up signal on his return to the pit lane and the session resumed after a 20-minute stoppage.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin; Editing by David Goodman)
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