Player's team-mates collide at home

Having qualified only 18th and 19th, drivers Patrick Carpentier and Alex Tagliani then collided on lap four. Carpentier was left in the barriers and angrily gesticulated at Tagliani afterwards.

However the rookie Canadian was unrepentant.

"Pat clipped the wall in turn nine and got sideways," Tagliani explained. "I was already committed and I was unable to slow down before I hit his sidepod. There's just no room for two cars side-by-side in there."

Tagliani, who later had several more incidents both on his own and with other cars before finally retiring, insisted that Carpentier was the one at fault.

"He is a competitor like everyone else on the track," he said. "He made a mistake and it gave me the opportunity to pass. It's easy to cause an incident if you're going to be stubborn."

Carpentier, whose relationship with the Player's team has deteriorated, is looking for another drive for next year.