Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsRace weekend

Big Sainz crash halts FP3 in Sochi

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Final practice for the Russian Grand Prix was halted early due to a major crash for Carlos Sainz in Sochi.

Sainz went off at Turn 13 - a tight right hander at the end of a DRS zone - with his car becoming embedded below the tecpro barrier. The session was red flagged with 25 minutes still to run while the medical car responded to the incident.

With 15 minutes of final practice remaining it was confirmed that the session will not be restarted, with Sainz then pictured on a stretcher giving the thumbs up as he was being loaded in to an ambulance.

The FIA confirmed Sainz was conscious when he was extricated from the Toro Rosso, which needs recovering from below the barrier.

Replays of the accident showed Sainz losing control and hitting the wall on the left-hand side of the track as he reaches the braking zone at the end of the DRS zone, damaging the left hand side of the car before heading straight on.

AS IT HAPPENED: Russian Grand Prix FP3

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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.