Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz Jr. says his sizeable accident during the first practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix caught him by surprise.
Sainz Jr. lost control of his STR12 exiting the Turn 11 hairpin and speared into the barriers, with the impact scattering debris onto the track, causing the session to be red-flagged.
Sainz Jr., who wound up 17th overall, expressed gratitude to his mechanics for repairing his car in time for the Spaniard to complete an installation lap during the rain-soaked second session.
“It was a tricky Friday for us,” said Sainz Jr., who has a 20-place grid penalty for taking on new engine components this weekend.
“Obviously, the accident in FP1 was a bit of a pity… I didn’t expect that to happen, I just clipped the outside kerb a bit too much and it sent me into a spin and then into the barriers.
“It looked quite incredible on the TV, but luckily it wasn’t such a big one from inside the cockpit.
“We can’t forget that a minimal miscalculation here can make you pay a big price!
“I’m happy that the mechanics could put the car back together for FP2 – they did an amazing job like they always do, pushing for me and the team.”
Toro Rosso team-mate Pierre Gasly added that a new seat aided his feeling in the STR12, compared to during his debut weekend in Malaysia.
“We didn’t do many laps in total – we didn’t even drive out of the garage in this afternoon’s FP2 because of the weather conditions,” he said.
“But we got some good data and we now have some work for tomorrow in order to improve our performance.
“Another positive is that the seat now feels much better than in Malaysia, I’m happy about this and now we just need to find a bit more pace.
“We have one more practice session left to get ready for qualifying and I think it will be a pretty busy one.”
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