Sainz ’calm’ as airlifted after Sochi crash - manager

Carlos Sainz’s manager had good news about the condition of the Toro Rosso driver following a big crash at Sochi in Saturday practice.

The session was stopped during nervous moments in the final session before qualifying for the Russian grand prix, when images showed that the 21-year-old’s car was buried deep under tec-pro barriers.

Sainz, however, gave the thumbs-up as he was put into an ambulance lying on a full-body brace and stretcher. It emerged later that he had been airlifted to hospital.

The GP3 race was also cancelled after the arm-co barrier behind the scattered tec-pro was shown to have been destroyed in the high-speed impact.

Sainz’s manager Borja Ortiz-Echague said: "Carlos is conscious, breathing without difficulty and calm."