Coulthard Feared for Crowd after Smash

Briton David Coulthard said he had feared a Monaco Grand Prix tragedy on Sunday after Giancarlo Fisichella's Sauber flew over his McLaren and into the guardrail.

The Italian's car came to rest upside down against the barriers amid mayhem as drivers hit a dense cloud of smoke from the blown engine in Takuma Sato's BAR.

"It was like a flashback to 1996 in Melbourne when Martin (Brundle) came over the back of me," twice Monaco winner Coulthard told reporters. "It's like slow motion when you see the car, but when you can see the underside of a car it is not good so I was worried he was going to go into the crowd," he added.

"Thankfully he caught the barrier and stopped."

Coulthard criticised BAR's Honda engineers for allowing Sato to continue when his car had been smoking even before the delayed start.

"Our team knew Kimi (Raikkonen) had a problem so they retired the car. You don't want to blow up on the circuit," said the Briton.

"If the Honda engineers knew that he had a problem they should have retired the car because the consequences of blowing a car on the track is mayhem. Sato's car was smoking all the way. I took a strip off my helmet because there was so much fluid going on to my visor as he took to the grid."

Jump Start

"And he jumped the start by a mile so I am surprised that wasn't picked up by the jump start system... and he was allowed to stay out there with a smoking engine."

Sato had swept to fourth place at the start from seventh on the grid, slotting in behind teammate Jenson Button who finished second. Fisichella said he had been blinded by the smoke.

"I had no vision at all. (Rubens) Barrichello and (Juan Pablo) Montoya were in front then suddenly there was a McLaren...the next thing I heard was a bang and I was upside down. The car took all the impact and I stayed in the cockpit until it all went quiet outside, just in case the accident wasn't finished. Then I got myself out."

Coulthard, who retired after the third lap crash, said he had been enthralled by the final stages of the race won by Italian Jarno Trulli in a Renault.

"I have developed a good relationship with Jenson and as much as I thought Jarno deserved his victory, I really thought Jenson might be able to have a go at the end," he said. "I had knots in my stomach, thinking would he get there, would he have a go.

"But today was a great day for F1 because you saw so much happening. There was controversy which is always good, some silliness and some accidents but thankfully all the drivers are okay. And we have got a new winner."