It feels like a long time since the Tuscan Grand Prix took place at Mugello. Lewis Hamilton won his 90th career race. Alex Albon got his first podium finish. A total of EIGHT cars did not finish the race. And one of those cars was that of Carlos Sainz.

A huge crash involving Antonio Giovinazzi and Kevin Magnussen saw the Spanish driver caught in the crossfire. Sainz had to retire the car and lost out on points. Fortunately, no one was harmed in that incident.

Sainz’s McLaren lost significant parts in the crash

Ahead of this week’s Russian Grand Prix, production director Piers Thynne has revealed the extent of the damage. In the website’s race preview, he stated, “It was unfortunate that Carlos was involved in a crash at the Tuscan Grand Prix.

“But I’m glad nobody was harmed. From a production standpoint, we lost significant parts over the weekend at Mugello which need backfilling and preparing ahead of the flyaway to Sochi.”

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As part of their concerted efforts, McLaren are actively pushing to get fresh parts delivered to Russia. “The entire factory in all areas and on all shifts are continuing to rise to the challenge to work as one unified team.

“To push parts and developments out to the team at track, to ensure we have every opportunity to consolidate and improve.”

Sainz hoping for better performances in Sochi

Having started in P9, Carlos Sainz had every opportunity to make his way to a higher points finish. But the crash, just after Lap 8, ruined all such chances.

It has not been a good few weeks for Sainz, bar the podium finish at Monza. Earlier at the Belgian GP, he had suffered electrical problems that saw him out even before the lights went out.

But a shining positive for McLaren comes in the form of numbers. Of the 12 times that McLaren cars have started in Sochi, the team has picked up points finishes on 7 occasions.

Last time around, Sainz and Norris finished P6 and P8, respectively. Regardless, it is this confidence and track record that McLaren will take into account and will prepare accordingly, ahead of what promises to be a good weekend for them.