Sainz set for Russian GP start

F1 press officer Matteo Bouciani spoke positively about Sainz’s condition shortly after footage emerged of him being taken to hospital by helicopter.

“His manager texted before qualifying to say that Carlos wants to have dinner tonight with us”, said Alonso.

The Toro Rosso driver was airlifted to a nearby Sochi hospital after making heavy contact with the barriers at Turn 13 in an incident that saw Practice 3 abandoned with 15 minutes remaining.

An official statement from the team clarified what attention their driver had received: “After arriving at the Sochi Hospital 4, Carlos Sainz, who never lost consciousness, underwent a medical examination, including a full body scan”.

Fortunately, the impact was nowhere near that of Saturday’s meeting with the barriers and Sainz attempted to rejoin, only for his rear wing to fall apart as he did so.

Rosberg said he had not seen the accident but suggested it could give rise to new concerns over driver safety.

The FIA took the decision not to restart the session as marshals and medics continued to attend to Sainz, while there were initially no replays of the shunt.

His father, former world rally champion Carlos Sainz wrote on Twitter “Just talked to Carlos”.

The Spaniard was passed fit to race by the FIA on Sunday morning after escaping uninjured from his sizeable accident in final free practice.

“We lost the power on the auto”, came the initial reply.

The team added that “investigations on the reasons for the accident will take place once the auto is back in the team’s garage”.

“In every moment after the accident I’ve been conscious, trying to speak with the team on the radio but it was not working”.

Sainz, however, did remark following his release he was “a bit sore… on his back and neck”, but that he was “totally ready to see what happens”.

Romain Grosjean was eighth for Lotus, Sainz’s Toro Rosso team-mate Max Verstappen ninth, while the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo qualified 10th.

Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg set the fastest time of the final practice session with a lap of 1 minute, 38.561 seconds, ahead of Williams driver Valtteri Bottas and championship leader Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes.

Force India pair Sergio Pérez and Nico Hülkenberg followed in fourth and sixth respectively, sandwiching Felipe Massa, who topped Friday’s wet second session.