Carlos Sainz Crashes in United States GP Qualifying
Carlos Sainz lost control of his Toro Rosso car at Turn Four and it slammed into the barriers again, just two weeks after his high-speed crash in final practice at the Russian Grand Prix.
Another crash involving Spaniard Carlos Sainz brought the rescheduled qualifying session for the United States Grand Prix to a temporary halt after just five minutes on Sunday morning in rain-hit Austin. (Rain Forces US Grand Prix Qualifying on Sunday)
Sainz lost control of his Toro Rosso at Turn Four of the Circuit of the Americas, his car slamming into the barriers again, just two weeks after his high-speed crash in final practice at the Russian Grand Prix.
He was unhurt and returned to the pits on a scooter as heavy rain continued to fall.
Defending two-time world champion Lewis Hamilton who is seeking to clinch his third title by winning Sunday's race was fastest at the time in his Mercedes.
Earlier, Formula One's ruling body the FIA on Sunday revealed unexpected findings from an investigation into Carlos Sainz's high-speed crash at the Russian Grand Prix.
It was believed that the Spaniard's Toro Rosso car had 'submarined' below the special French-made energy-absorbing TecPro barriers on impact, but this was shown to be wrong.
Instead, as slow-frame analysis of the accident demonstrated, the barriers did their job and the low nose of the car went directly into the barriers and not beneath them.
The barriers then went through a 'bounce-back' motion after hitting the steel Armco barriers behind them.
Sainz crashed during final free practice for the race, but escaped unhurt and was passed fit to take part in the event on Sunday.
The FIA Safety Director Laurent Mekies told reporters that the impact with the barriers was at 153 kph. The investigation showed that the car slowed from 153 kph to zero in four metres.
"It was quite an extreme stop," said Mekies. "And it is quite an outstanding performance that both the car and barriers allowed the driver to walk away from the crash.
"From the video analysis, you see the barrier rising ... when it is rebounding from the Armco (barrier), which is a very important thing for us to improve because it gave quite a few concerns for the rescue team.
"But it was quite a different situation compared to a car 'submarining' beneath the barrier.
"It is obviously quite a different conclusion compared to what was initially felt, giving us quite a challenge to resolve how to avoid that rebounding phase, but it is also giving us confidence in the barrier and car performance in the crash."
The chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers Association (GPDA), Alex Wurz, praised the work done in improving the safety barriers and the results achieved by the TecPro barriers.
He said: "The bottom line is that it's really impressive and is thanks to all the intense work that has been done. We are not stopping -- F1 is always striving for safer solutions.
"The issue that came up about him being under the barrier, this is something that will definitely be dealt with, and we were reassured of this and the drivers understand everything.
"All the protocol, the crisis and risk-management, was done in a very satisfying way."