The Spaniard was passed fit to race by the FIA on Sunday morning after escaping uninjured from his sizeable accident in final free practice.

The team revealed on Sunday that Sainz had lost control of the car at 307 km/h as he hit the brakes and the rear locked.

The first impact with the wall on the left hand side of the track was at 204 km/h, while he hit the TecPro barriers at 150 km/h with an impact recorded at 46G.

Sainz said that, despite being a bit stiff, he was otherwise uninjured and looking forward to taking part.

"There are no bruises, but as you can imagine I am a bit stiff, and a bit sore from yesterday," he told reporters on Sunday morning.

"But it is nothing that a painkiller cannot kill and for sure.

"I will start the race, and if I cannot move my neck or something I will stop, but I feel perfectly capable of doing the start and participating in the race and going for it."

When asked if he was nervous about getting back in the car, Sainz said: "To be honest, no. It is just one race more .

"The accident yesterday was a tough one but it is already at the back of my mind. Turn 13 on the first lap will be a bit emotional, but from then on it will all be back to normal.

"I am more than ready to race and my mind is telling me all the time to race, to race, to race. And that is the best thing I can do at the moment.

"I will remember for sure when I go for my first time in Turn 13, but it will be one time and then it will be forgotten for sure."

Video replay

Having not lost consciousness in the crash, and knowing he was not hurt, Sainz said the first thing he did when he got to the hospital was ask to watch a replay of the accident.

"The first thing I did when I got to the hospital was look at the crash to see what exactly happened, even though I could remember what had happened," he said.

"I remember perfectly changing my brake shape before Turn 13 and just when hitting the brakes lost the rear of the car, hitting the first barrier and approaching the next barrier.

"I remember everything perfectly – fortunately or unfortunately. I watched the accident, I saw everything happened as my mind was remembering, so that's good news"