Practice 3 abandoned after Sainz crash

F1 Grand Prix, GP Russia, Sochi International Street Circuit

The final practice session before qualifying for the Russian Grand Prix has been abandoned after just 35 minutes following a violent crash by Spanish Toro Rosso driver Carlos Sainz.

For the first time this weekend, the track was dry and cars queued up at the end of the pitlane to get some representative running at last. Generally it was very busy session with drivers trying to get a feel for both the soft and super soft tyre compounds before qualifying.

35 minutes into the session though, Carlos Sainz lost control of his car on the exit of turn 12, ending up scraping the concrete wall there before heading into the tecpro barrier in turn 13. There were no braking marks on the track, so the car essentially hit the barriers at high speed. Once at a stand still, images also showed that the Toro Rosso dove under the tecpro barriers but came to a halt before hitting the iron fence that sits behind those tecpro blocks.

The session was immediately halted, and with damage to the barriers extensive, it was also quickly announced that FP3 would not be resumed, making Rosberg the fastest man, ahead of Bottas and Hamilton.

15 minutes after the accident, marshalls and medics eventually managed to extricate Sainz from his car. He was stabilised and moved into an ambulance for further checks, even though the Spaniard put his thumb up in the process, indicating his consciousness and making it obvious he's ok.

Qualifying for the Russian Grand Prix starts in two hours, but it's unsure if Sainz will take part in that.