GPDA to request changes to Barcelona

Kovalainen escaped injury when his car plunged head first into the barriers at Turn 9 after suffering a wheel rim failure on the entry to the turn.

The Finn subsequently spent a night in hospital for precautionary checks, but is expected to be fully fit for the next race on the calendar in Turkey.

Despite Kovalainen being unhurt in the crash, GPDA director Mark Webber has told autosport.com that there is likely to be a push for changes to be made to the corner for next year.

"We need to make the run off there a bit bigger," said Webber, who is a big campaigner for improved safety in F1. "(Sebastien) Bourdais also had a crash there in a testing and we need to look at it.

"The run-off on the exit of the corner is good, but not so on the entry. If you have a problem on the way in, there is not enough run off.

"But we will learn from the accident and we'll move the barriers back next year I am sure."

Webber said he knew little at the time about whether or not Kovalainen had hurt himself, but welcomed some positive signals from the medical team working on the Finn.

"It was good that the FIA medical guy gave me the thumbs up when I went past," he said. "That was a relief, because you never know if the guy is okay or not.

"We haven't seen something like that since Robert (Kubica in Canada) and we don't know what sort of shape the guy is in when he is in the car. But it was fantastic to hear he was waving to the crowd and he was relaxed."