Hello and welcome to ESPN's live coverage of qualifying for the Russian Grand Prix.

After Carlos Sainz's huge crash in FP3, the FIA has confirmed repair work on the barrier has been completed and qualifying will commence as normal at 1500 local time.

Sainz is currently in hospital for further checks. He was conscious and talking to the doctors when they arrived on the scene, which is very good news given the speed and force of the impact.

There is a chance he could still race from the back of the grid tomorrow if he is cleared to do so by the FIA doctors and the stewards. But right now the main concern is making sure he's got no side effects from the impact.

In the meantime, we have a qualifying session to get underway. Only a handful of drivers completed a representative lap on the super-soft tyres so most drivers are journeying into the unknown. A quick lap will be all about adapting to what's underneath you.

The Mercedes due are the obvious favourites for pole, but we really don't know what the Ferrari is capable of after it missed practice. Mercedes were concerned about its chances ahead of the weekend, but now we're here there is an underlying confidence among the team. The long straights and medium-speed corners should suit the car well.

It's still cold out there - just 15C. That should also play to the strengths of the Mercedes cars. Risk of rain is 0%.

All ok! Nothing to worry about! Already thinking how to convince The doctors to Be on the grid for tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/81W1QFDo8q

— Carlos Sainz (@carlosainz) October 10, 2015

Good news there from the hospital bed of C. Sainz.

So here we go: Verstappen and Merhi are first on track followed half of the rest of the field

This track is low-grip at the best of times, but with rain yesterday and such little running today (the GP3 race after final practice was also cancelled) it's going to be very slippery out there.

Verstappen absolutely fighting his car on the gripless tarmac as he crosses in a 1:40.459.

Pastor Maldonado has a spin at Turn 5.

Nasr moves in behind Verstappen by seven tenths.

Rosberg's first time is nearly 3.3s off the pace but he radios Mercedes to confirm he will now turn the engine up for a three-lap run.

Rosberg lowers the benchmark to 1:38.556.

Hamilton crosses a full second down on Rosberg with his first attempt. Grosjean slots into third.

Last year's qualifying lap was a 1:38.513, so a superb opening lap from Rosberg on those soft tyres.

"Did you say one second to Nico?" Hamilton asks Mercedes.

The McLarens have immediately opted for the super-soft tyres and Alonso moves into fifth.

Mercedes drivers exchange purple sector times on their latest laps.

Rosberg shaves a further two tenths off his benchmark, despite having a few wobbles through the final two corners.

Vettel is out and already on the super-soft tyres.

Vettel's first lap on the super-soft tyre moves him two tenths down on Rosberg, who set his benchmark on the soft tyre. Still no sign of any competitive times from Williams yet.

Raikkonen, in the other Ferrari, is on his first flying lap on the super-soft tyre.

Raikkonen moves into fourth buy he's six tenths slower than Vettel. Looked tidy through the final sector, which is where a lot of drivers have been struggling.

Bottas is out on super-softs so let's see where Williams stacks up compared to Ferrari in qualifying trim.

Everyone bar Mercedes has used super-soft tyres.

Replays show Vettel locking up heavily at Turn 2, where Rosberg ruined his race last year. "I've flat-spotted the front-left. I presume we have to box so let's bring the rest of the programme forward".

Vettel's 2.4s clear of the drop zone so you would assume he's safe as it stands.

Massa's first competitive time sees him fo fifth, 1.044s off the pace.

Both McLarens in the top ten as it stands but the track will be getting quicker and quicker in the final two minutes.

Perez and Kvyat both in trouble, teetering above the drop zone. Everyone out for final runs bar the Mercedes drivers.

Bottas has a messy final corner but moves above his team-mate into sixth. Grosjean has split the Ferraris with a very tidy lap.

Kvyat moves up to 11th. Perez made a mistake on his last lap so will need to nail his final attempt to escape the drop zone, which he has now fallen into.

Thirty seconds for drivers to get back round to the chequered flag for another lap.

Perez climbs to tenth fastest with his latest attempt. Nasr has a big snap coming out of the final corner but appears to be on a better lap this time around.

Chequered flag drops so this will be the final laps for all the drivers that made it across the line. Both McLarens have dropped down towards the bottom five.

Hulkenberg climbs up to seventh. Button moves up to 13th....

Alonso doesn't improve and will drop out of the session! He has a hefty grid penalty to serve tomorrow so will start from the back of the grid.

Kvyat moves up to 14th but Nasr doesn't improve -- though he doesn't need to with Alonso failing to shave time off his previous best.

"That's okay, something to build on," Button says when told he made it out of Q1.

Dropping out of the session is Alonso, Ericsson, Stevens, Merhi and Sainz, who did not run.

On the subject of Sainz - we have an update from Toro Rosso.

After arriving at the Sochi Hospital 4, Carlos Sainz, who never lost consciousness, underwent a medical examination, including a full body scan. The scan showed that the driver has no injuries.

We will release further information when it is available.

Great news.

Seeing a replay of Verstappen having a big lock up towards Turn 13, where his Toro Rosso team-mate finished FP3 in the wall earlier today. The drivers carry an awful lot of speed through the kink just before the heavy braking zone.

No radio messages from Alonso this time around. Funny that.

The clock is ticking, Q2 is underway.

Still a hard one to call behind Mercedes. Williams seemed off the pace in qualifying -- compared to where I imagined they would be anyway, but possible they had a bit more fuel in the car for the opening session.

Super-softs from here on out of course. Perez goes fastest but is immediately relegated to second by Rosberg's 1:38.335.

Hulkenberg claims second, four tenths off Rosberg's headline time.

Hamilton can only manage sixth with his first run. He went purple in the first sector but seemed to lose time in the middle sector.

Massa aborts a flying lap and returns to the pits.

Verstappen complains of "very low grip" on his current set of super-soft tyres.

Hamilton goes purple again on his latest run through sector one.

And goes purple in sector two....

....And again in sector three to go P1, six tenths quicker than Rosberg.

Still no sign of the Ferrari boys.

Rosberg now takes P1 back from Hamilton, edging his team-mate out by a 1.172. Hopefully it stays like this in Q3 with them both exchanging times.

Impressive stuff from Hulkenberg to put himself third but we still haven't seen Williams or Ferrari in competitive trim yet.

Raikkonen starts his first flying lap of Q2.

We're into the final four minutes.

Raikkonen's Ferrari appears to be a bit of a handful through the middle sector.

Raikkonen edges in front of Hulkenberg for third, 1.202s down on the lead.

Vettel immediately replaces him in third, however, going faster by three tenths.

Bottas climbs into third! He's two tenths up on Vettel. That will be a nice scrap to come in Q3. Verstappen moves into eighth for Toro Rosso.

Replays show Massa running wide at Turn 8.

Good lap from Grosjean, who has climbed up to eighth. Lotus team-mate Massa down in 14th.

Vettel asking about what sort of lap Maldonado was on -- flying lap or out lap -- and then admits he probably pushed too hard on his last attempt. Lots of cars trying to navigate through traffic.

We're into the final minute. Ricciardo, Nasr, Button, Maldonado and Massa the men in trouble.

Vettel on the weighbridge, which is a randomly selected process.

Hulkenberg can't improve on sixth, crossing just before the chequered flag falls on this session.

Final attempts due to come thick and fast now.

Nasr moves to ninth...

Ricciardo jumps up to eighth.... Maldonado can't improve on his time so will drop out of the session. Massa also can't improve! Disaster for the Williams driver as he qualifies 15th.

While that happens, Bottas shaves two tenths off his last time to stay third. Nasr drops into the bottom five as Perez climbs to eighth.

Kvyat can't make it into Q3! He switches position with Nasr but only for 11th. The Russian crowd will be disappointed not to see their man in the final shootout. He missed out by a tenth.

Button up to 13th, his best qualifying performance since the Monaco Grand Prix.

So dropping out - Kvyat, Nasr, Button, Maldonado and Massa. Williams will be upset not to have two drivers taking the fight to Ferrari in Q3.

"The tyres are not ready," Kvyat tells Red Bull when its revealed he only qualified P11. Massa looks a bit despondent as he climbs out of his car. He would have expected a lot better, especially with Bottas the best of the rest behind Mercedes.

Verstappen qualifying faster than Kvyat in the junior team car.

Replays show Massa weaving his way through traffic on that final lap. Doesn't look like it cost him too much time, at least not enough to cost him a place in Q3.

The clock starts ticking and off we go with Q3. Raikkonen heads out immediately in his gleaming red Ferrari.

Raikkonen starts the first timed lap of the top-ten shootout.

Hulkenberg being told he'll really need to work hard to get his tyres up to temperature. Has seemed the fastest time comes on the second flying lap of a run, so expect to see two lots of two flying laps either side of the usual mid-session rest.

Raikkonen has a very slow first lap as he tries to warm those tyres, crossing in a 1:45.267. Vettel moves into first with a 1:42.591.

"Looks like everyone is going for lap two," Hamilton is told by race engineer Peter Bonnington.

Perez moves into P1 with a 1:38.691.

Hulkenberg now goes quickest of them all with a 1:38.659.

But Raikkonen's first proper flying lap sees him go three tenths quicker than Hulkenberg...

Vettel now claims P1 by nearly two tenths...

Bottas now goes quicker! Two tenths quicker than Vettel ... But Rosberg moves eight tenths clear of the Williams man. How can Hamilton respond?

He can't! He crosses 0.320s down on Rosberg.

Rosberg takes the upper hand into the final couple of runs we'll see at the end of this session. How Williams will wish it had Massa up there as well because Bottas is currently going toe-to-toe with the Ferraris and winning.

No times from Grosjean, Verstappen or Ricciardo, who'll all opt for one run at the end of the session.

Good to see Rosberg take the fight to Hamilton. The championship fight is out of his hands at the moment -- he needs to rely on errors from Hamilton but the best he can do is by taking pole and wins at every opportunity.

Grosjean out on a flying lap on the super-soft tyre.

In fact, all three men yet to set a time are now out there to take advantage of the clear track.

It's not completely clear, but this is the lull between flying laps. Grosjean slides wide through Turn 12.

Rosberg and Hamilton fail to improve on their times ....

Replays show Hamilton running wide at Turn 12 and pit at the end of the lap. That's the shootout for pole over, then, because he doesn't have time to get out again for another run.

Rosberg takes his second pole in a row, then. Third of the season. The real battle now is the one behind Mercedes for third.

Rosberg also returns to the pits, job done for the German.

Raikkonen, Hulkenberg, Grosjean and Ricciardo all on final flying laps.

Raikkonen goes wide at the same corner Hamilton went wide at and that will have ruined his chances of improving. He pits at the end of his run.

Replays show Raikkonen locking up heavily as he approached the apex, taking a big chunk out of his right front in the process.

Bottas can't improve on third but that position should be safe...

...And it is. Vettel improves on his time but finishes a tenth off Bottas.

Got to take your hat off to Rosberg. Solid effort all afternoon from him. Replays show Bottas getting wide onto the grass as he crossed the finish line, which is right on the exit of that final corner.

Bottas in P3. "Good place for tomorrow, so let's go for it". Got to love the Finns.

Well that will be interesting for tomorrow, that long run down to Turn 2 will mean those not on pole might not be too disappointed by where they start.

Hamilton having a good long look at the Ferrari in parc ferme. Limited interaction between the drivers in parc ferme.

That's all we have time for from qualifying. Please do join us again tomorrow for the Russian Grand Prix, which starts at 1400 local time, an hour earlier than qualifying began today.