Sainz: I was feeling a bit dizzy

Carlos Sainz has revealed he felt "a bit dizzy" before and during the early stages of the Russian GP, but things improved as the race progressed.

The Toro Rosso rookie had an eventful couple of days in Sochi as he suffered a 46g crash during FP3 on Saturday morning and was airlifted to hospital for medical check-ups.

However, he was discharged from hospital in the evening and was given the all-clear by the FIA medical delegate to take part in the race.

He produced an impressive display and was running solidly inside the top 10 before he had to retire due to a brake issue.

The 21-year-old, though, admits he wasn't 100 percent during the opening few laps.

"Being fully honest, in the first 10 laps, behind the Safety Car, doing so many 'esses' [weaving to warm the tyres] I was feeling a bit dizzy," he told Autosport.

"I don't know if it was just mental because I was thinking about the accident, or if I was just feeling dizzy.

"But after lap 10 it went off and I could push normally without problems."

When asked how he felt before the race, he added: "Maybe a bit of dizziness.

"If I do some strange gestures my neck and back hurts a bit, but in the car I didn't have any back or neck problems.

"Just that bit of dizziness in the first 10 laps behind the Safety Car. I opened up my visor and it improved."

And he nearly went on to produce a "heroic" finish as was running as high as P7, but it wasn't to be as his STR suffered a brake problem.

"Luckily I still had three other brakes to protect me and slow me down," he said.

"It was the front left, and I also had a small brake failure in the rear left. Quite scary.

"From lap 20-something I knew something like that could happen, but I still committed to keep racing.

"Knowing I was P7 and I had big chances with the pace I had, I was committed to keep pushing, and if the accident happened it happened.

"It would have been quite heroic to finish."