Carlos Sainz suffers heavy crash in Russian Grand Prix practice

Baku. 10 October. REPORT.AZ/ Toro Rosso driver Carlos Sainz has suffered a heavy crash during final practice at the Russian Grand Prix, Report informs citing BBC.

Sainz's car was buried deep into the barriers after he lost control at Turn 13 at the end of a long straight.

He lost control during braking, skidded down a wall and into the impact-absorbing barrier in the run-off area.

Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost said: "He is conscious and with the doctors. We don't know what his conditions are but so far it seems he is OK.

"It seems the car got lost under braking and we must find out why."

He said it was "difficult to say" whether it was a car failure "but at the moment it looks like no".

He said it was unlikely Sainz, 21, who has been airlifted to hospital, would be able to take part in qualifying.

BBC F1 co-commentator David Coulthard said there were two major areas of concerns - how the car had gone under the barriers and the length of time it took for medical crews to get to the scene of the accident and remove Sainz from under the barriers.

Sainz, the son of two-time world rally champion of the same name, is in his debut season in F1.