Badoer flies back home after Barcelona mega-shunt

The Italian was driving one of last year's F1-2000 chassis at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya yesterday morning when he suffered what the team described as a 'mechanical failure' at the end of the main straight on his second run of the day.

The car is thought to have lost a wheel after suffering a suspected rear suspension failure. The wheel is believed to have removed the rear wing, with the car then somersaulting through a gravel trap and mounting a tyre barrier.

The F1-2000 was destroyed in the accident, although the chassis itself is believed to have stood up well to the impact. Badoer was taken to the circuit's medical centre before being airlifted to the Catalunya General Hospital at Sant Cugat.

Although the 29-year-old complained of neck and upper back pains, an examination revealed no specific injuries, bar bruising and minor neck vertebrae damage.

Badoer, who was confirmed as Ferrari's test driver for a third straight season last week, was kept in for observation overnight but is set to return home later this morning. He is expected to miss testing for around a fortnight.

Ferrari will not test at the circuit today, but will resume its Bridgestone tyre-testing programme on Tuesday, when Michael Schumacher is scheduled to take over.


1 David Coulthard, McLaren-Mercedes MP4-15K, 1m20.46s, 46 laps
2 Alexander Wurz, McLaren-Mercedes MP4-15K, 1m20.79s, 40 laps
3 Luca Badoer, Ferrari F1-2000, 1m22.92s, 10 laps
4 Pedro de la Rosa, Arrows-AMT A21, no time