Burti Takes the Blame After Crash

Jaguar Racing's Luciano Burti accepted that he made a driver error as he crashed into a wall during Friday's free practice but also blamed mechanical problems on his R2 chassis.

Burti's car suffered engine problems and the young Brazilian said he pushed too hard on cold rubbers after a Michelin tyre change and accepted his share of the blame.

"It was okay until I put it into the wall," said Burti, who was uninjured. "I had a problem with the engine in the second session and probably lost 20 minutes.

"I had to go out on new tyres straight away. I pushed a little bit too hard, got my left rear wheel on the grass which spun me round and unfortunately there was no room for mistakes at that corner. I spun pretty slowly but that was enough to put it in the wall."

The crash destroyed the left side of Burti's Jaguar R2 and he eventually finished the day 18th in the times. His team-mate Eddie Irvine finished 13th and after suffering a puncture was not satisfied with his position.

Irvine said: "We've got to keep working away because we haven't done much set-up work with the car this year. It is too early to say where we are and we'll work hard in an effort to optimise what we have."