Sainz hopes to race after big Sochi crash

Carlos Sainz checked himself out of hospital late on Saturday and is hoping to contest today’s Russian grand prix.

Earlier, reports suggested the Spaniard would stay under observation overnight following his high-speed crash underneath the tec-pro barriers in qualifying, but Toro Rosso is now clearing the path for him to race on Sunday.

"As you can see I’m fine," the 21-year-old told Spanish television.

"It was nothing in the end, it was just a scare. A big scare, but just a scare."

Indeed, Sainz’s manager Borja Ortiz-Echague said the 21-year-old was determined to keep his booking for dinner with fellow Spaniard Fernando Alonso.

Sainz said he is completely unhurt after undergoing several tests, having never lost consciousness in the crash.

"(I have) a bit of a sore neck and back, but with a bit of rest I’m going to try to race," he revealed.

"I can’t give you any guarantees, but I’m going to do all I can to race and if I can’t then I’ll just rest and think about the next one."

Attention is now turning to the nature of Sainz’s crash, after marshals and doctors took several minutes to reach the Spaniard whose head and cockpit was buried deep underneath the high-technology ’tec-pro’ barriers.

"It was not ideal," Sainz’s teammate Max Verstappen said. "They need to find a solution for that."

Jenson Button agreed: "It definitely needs to be looked at."

And Sebastian Vettel said: "This needs to be looked at because the barriers are supposed to absorb the energy, not go up in the air and come down on the driver."

Fingers were being pointed at F1’s lower noses for 2015, with Red Bull official Dr Helmut Marko saying "We were the first ones to warn" about the risk of cars submarining underneath rival cars or barriers.