Schumacher Escapes Injury after Monza Crash

World Champion Michael Schumacher escaped injury following a high speed crash on Tuesday at the Monza circuit, where the Formula One teams began a four-day testing session in preparation for the German Grand Prix.

As Schumacher turned into the Varianta della Roggia - where fire marshal Paolo Gislimberti was killed at the Italian Grand Prix last year - at more than 240 km/h he hit the barrier on his front right hand side, losing the front right tyre in the process.

He then flew past a gap in the barriers and travelled across the gravel to end up with a head-on impact in the tyre barriers, reminiscent of his crash at Silverstone in 1999.

Giancarlo Fisichella, driving his Benetton Renault behind Schumacher, told the ANSA news service that the impact with the wall was "violent."

"I saw the car against the barriers and I feared Michael could be hurt," the Italian added. "Fortunately he wasn't. The car was stuck under the tyre barriers. I feared the worst."

Schumacher, who was beaten to first place at the British Grand Prix by Mika Hakkinen last weekend, climbed out of the car and was taken to the medical centre, but soon returned to the pits claiming "I'm okay."

A spokesperson for the 32-year old German said: "He lost the rear of the car under braking and the car was destroyed - both front wheels are off. The test is over because the car is destroyed, and he is going home by private plane."

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo said he would talk to the team's sporting director Jean Todt in order to know the details of the accident.

"Unfortunately these are the unknowns of our job," he told ANSA. "Now I want to go talk to Jean Todt to get the latest explanations."