Carlos Sainz crash video: Toro Rosso driver airlifted to hospital after accident in Russian Grand Prix practice

Sainz was taken to the medical centre where it was confirmed that he was conscious and answering questions

Sainz's car was wedged in the TechPro barrier (Getty Images)

The final practice session for the Russian Grand Prix was abandoned after a serious accident involving Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz.

The 21-year-old crashed at high speed at turn 13 of the Sochi Autodrom after hitting the wall on the entry to the corner, before going straight-on into the barrier. The session was immediately red flagged as medics rushed to his aide, and after being extricated from the cockpit and transferred by a stretcher to a waiting ambulance, he gave fans the thumbs up to show he was not seriously hurt.

The FIA soon confirmed that Sainz was not seriously injured in the accident which could prevent his participation for the rest of the race weekend, while Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost confirmed that Sainz was conscious and answering questions.

A replay of the crash showed that Sainz’s Toro Rosso veered left as it entered the braking zone for turn 13 through the turn 12 kink. There appeared to be a small puff of smoke from the front-left tyre, and after the initial impact with the wall there were no tyre marks on the track surface to show signs of heavy braking.

Watch the video below...

Carlos Sainz Junior crash #RussianGP #SporTVF1 pic.twitter.com/lm7VTzYXXi

; Jhonatan Jeives (@Jhonatan_Jeives) October 10, 2015

Toro Rosso will now have a decision to make, as they cannot replace a driver after qualifying. It has already been suggested by Sky Sports F1’s Ted Kravitz that the team will run just one car for qualifying in the form of Max Verstappen.

After being briefly assessed at the track’s medical centre, Sainz was airlifted to a nearby hospital for further treatment and it was confirmed that he was responding to doctors and described as “ok”.

Tost said: "Carlos is conscious, he's with the doctors now. They will see if he can continue the race weekend."

Further images of the crash showed an alarming level of damage sustained to the barrier. The nose of Sainz’s Toro Rosso has appeared to have forced the TechPro barrier over the car, while the Armco barrier looked to have been pierced which led to further delays to the rest of the day’s schedule.

With the session immediately abandoned, Nico Rosberg finished practice fastest ahead of the Williams of Valterri Bottas. Rosberg’s Mercedes teammate and championship leader Lewis Hamilton finished third. The GP3 feature race, which was due to follow the practice session, was late cancelled due to the extensive damage sustained to the Armco barrier, while organisers were facing a race against time to repair it before F1 qualifying which is scheduled for a 1pm GMT start.