Sainz feeling fine after morning smash in Suzuka

Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, Japanese Grand Prix

Carlos Sainz insisted that he was suffering no ill-effects after his big crash in morning practice at Suzuka.

The Spanish driver damaged his car when he hit the barriers on the exit of turn 11, after dropping a wheel on the grass.

"Obviously, the accident in FP1 was a bit of a pity," he sighed.

"I didn't expect that to happen. I just clipped the outside kerb a bit too much and it sent me into a spin and then into the barriers.

"It looked quite incredible on the TV, but luckily it wasn't such a big one from inside the cockpit.

"We can't forget that a minimal miscalculation here can make you pay a big price," he commented.

While the car was ready to take part in the afternoon session, the inclement weather meant he only completed a single shakedown lap.

I'm happy that the mechanics could put the car back together for FP2," he said. "They did an amazing job like they always do, pushing for me and the team.

"We were ready to run in FP2, but unfortunately the weather conditions didn't help us," he continued. "Hopefully tomorrow is a better day!"

However well qualifying goes for him on Saturday, Sainz knows he faces a 20-place grid penalty for the race. He's taken on a fifth ICE and turbo and a sixth MGU-H for the Japanese Grand Prix.

Hamilton tops rain-hit second practice in Suzuka

Meanwhile, his team mate Pierre Gasly is just happy to get a new seat in his STR12 for his second outing with the team.

The 21-year-old, who is once again replacing Daniil Kvyat this week, experienced significant back pain in his race début at Sepang.

"The seat now feels much better than in Malaysia," he confirmed. "I'm happy about this and now we just need to find a bit more pace.

"We didn't do many laps in total," he said of his Friday programme. "We didn't even drive out of the garage in this afternoon's FP2 because of the weather conditions.

"But we got some good data and we now have some work for tomorrow in order to improve our performance," he added. "We have one more practice session left to get ready for qualifying

"I think it will be a pretty busy [Saturday]," he predicted. "I'm now really looking forward to tomorrow."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.