Carlos Sainz says his intention is to race in the Russian Grand Prix having been discharged from hospital following a heavy crash on Saturday.
The Toro Rosso driver crashed approaching Turn 13, hitting the wall on the outside of the track and continuing straight on in to the barrier. With the Tecpro barrier on top of his car, it took a while for Sainz to be removed but he was conscious and taken to the medical centre before being airlifted to hospital.
With scans showing him to be uninjured, Sainz was set to spend the night in hospital as a precaution but has since been discharged, with the FIA doctor to assess if he is fit to race in the morning. The Spaniard says he is hoping to be allowed to start on Sunday, but understands why he may be prevented from doing so.
“As you can see I am fine," Sainz said. "My back and my neck are just a bit sore from the accident, but I’m totally ready. Hopefully tomorrow I will wake up in a good shape and maybe I can try and race – this is definitely the intention!
"Obviously we need to be cautious... I’ve always been conscious. As soon as the accident happened I tried to talk to the team on the radio, but it wasn’t working and those must have been some scary moments… I’d like to thank everyone for their support, it’s really nice to receive all your messages at a moment like this one! I hope to see you all tomorrow out there!”
Team principal Franz Tost explained he felt a combination of factors had led to Sainz losing control braking for Turn 13.
"Just to clarify what happened, prior to the accident, Carlos had completed a long-run on the Option tyre, before changing to the Prime to do two further laps," Tost said. "On Primes the grip level is lower. In addition he had changed the brake shape on the steering wheel, which meant he had more braking rearwards. A combination of these two factors might have been the cause of the rears locking, which made the car uncontrollable.”
Rosberg beats Hamilton to Sochi pole
AS IT HAPPENED: Russian Grand Prix qualifying
Gallery: Carlos Sainz's crash in FP3
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
