Dennis backs Silverstone on invader

'The Nutter,' as he was labelled in the F1 paddock, jogged down the Hangar Straight brandishing the message: "Read the Bible - the Bible is always right..."

The incident happened on lap 12 and caused almost the entire field to dive into the pits under the resultant Safety Car and alter their refuelling strategy.

"Any race of any description is always prone to individuals who appreciate that if the event is being televised, it is a very prominent platform on which to demonstrate their extremisms," said Dennis.

"It has happened in horse racing, it's happened at Hockenheim (in 2000) and you can't blame any GP circuit. Scaling high perimeter fences is something that is happening throughout the world on a constant basis. This is several miles in distance and I think one has to be balanced and appreciate that you can't prevent this sort of thing happening. It can happen anywhere at any time in any time of racing."

As for the incident further harming Silverstone's cause in light of recent attacks from Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley, Dennis said: "Anyone tabloid hack who wants to feed on it can put spin on, but the reality is that this was a fantastic race that shouldn't be tarnished by this type of thing."

McLaren driver Kimi Raikkonen said of the incident: "I saw the weird guy climbing over the high fence but had already passed when he actually went onto the track."

Team-mate David Coulthard praised the reaction of race officials, who moved quickly to allow marshals to remove the invader. "It was obviously an unusual race with this lunatic on the track, but the safety car was deployed quickly," said the Scot.