Wing failure 'one-off', says Minardi

The incident was the third of the weekend for Minardi, after Webber and Alex Young had suffered from broken front wings during practice and qualifying on Saturday. But the rear wing failure was the most alarming of the three and led to the team withdrawing from the race.

Minardi carried out structural checks on two identical rear wings at its Faenza factory on Monday, and confirmed that a single component on Webber's car had been to blame.

Team boss Paul Stoddart said: "We now know that the failure on Mark's car was a one-off problem with that component, but further strengthening will be incorporated in all our rear wings, purely as an added precaution.

"Wind tunnel testing has also verified that the modification will not result in any loss of vehicle performance. The work will be completed prior to the Austrian GP [in 10 days time]."

One wing was tested to in excess of two and a half times the known maximum loading attained at any GP without any adverse affect. The other was taken to the point of destruction, which was three times the maximum load.