The final practice session for the Russian Grand Prix was called to a halt after the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz Jr suffered a heavy accident 35 minutes into the run.
Sainz appeared to lose control braking going into turn 13, hit a wall and went straight into the Tecpro safety barriers. Initial pictures appeared to show the car buried nose-first relatively deep in the protective wall.
Marshals and the medical team swiftly attended the accident and were working to extricate the driver when the session was stopped, including using cranes to lift the safety barriers.
Soon after the incident Sainz was removed from the car and taken to hospital in an ambulance. He was seen giving a thumbs-up as he was placed into the vehicle.
The Toro Rosso principal, Franz Tost, said: “Carlos is conscious, he’s with the doctors now. They will see if he can continue the race weekend. As far as we’re aware he’s OK.”
Tost did not want to speculate on what caused the accident until the team investigate. “We need the data, as it looks now the car got lost under braking. But we must find out why and what happened,” he said.
Sainz’s manager later said he is doing “perfectly” and tweeted a picture of him sitting up in a hospital bed giving the thumbs-up, apparently unharmed.
This is the 21-year-old Spanish driver’s debut season in Formula One and he has generally impressed, with a ninth place in Malaysia his best finish. He is the son of the former double World Rally champion Carlos Sainz.
The accident occurred one year and five days after Jules Bianchi suffered a nose-first collision with a trackside recovery vehicle that ultimately led to his death nine months later. Sainz’s impact was also very heavy and although he appears to have gone under the Tecpro barriers, they appear to have served their purpose.
The Tecpro barriers were manufactured by a French company in collaboration with the FIA in 2006. They are made of a series of foam-filled polyethylene blocks, reinforced at their centre with a 2mm metal plate. These are then linked by high-tensile nylon straps and backed by another set of empty, sealed polyethylene blocks that absorb the energy from a crash.
Max Verstappen walked away from a major crash into the Tecpro barriers after hitting Romain Grosjean earlier this season at Monaco.
Given the nature of Saturday’s incident, even if Sainz is declared fully fit he will almost certainly not be allowed to take part in qualifying because of the danger of a second impact occurring.
The GP3 race due to take place after practice was cancelled as repairs to the barriers continued. However, qualifying will take place at 1pm BST as planned.
