Barrichello Criticises Hungaroring's Safety

Ferrari's Brazilian Formula One driver Rubens Barrichello said after a high-speed crash at the Hungarian Grand Prix that the run-off area after the main straight was too small for safety at the redesigned Hungaroring.

"We said on Thursday that there was not enough run-off," Barrichello told journalists. "Thank God I am OK, but I'm OK because the car is strong enough."

Barrichello, winner at the Hungaroring last year when Ferrari clinched their fourth successive title, plunged straight ahead into the tyre wall at the end of the main straight after what appeared to be a disastrous suspension failure.

He lost his left rear wheel and slammed with locked brakes into the tyre barrier and the impact also tore off his Ferrari's front wheels and said it all happened without any warning.

"I went for the brakes, I lost the suspension and all of a sudden I had nothing: I was a passenger, the car went straight," Barrichello said.

The main straight at the Hungaroring was extended this year at the FIA's request to just under 800 metres but the racetrack squeezed between the hills some 25 kilometres east of Budapest cannot be extended any further.

"I feel sorry for this. Somebody had a chance to create a new design: by creating a new design just make it a little bit shorter and give us the run-off," Barrichello said.

Barrichello's accident left him sixth in the Championship, trailing five points behind Renault's Spaniard Fernando Alonso, who scored his first ever Formula One victory.

The suspension failure coupled with teammate Michael Schumacher's eighth place set Ferrari back to second position in the Constructors' Championship, now led by Williams with 129 points, eight ahead of Ferrari.