FIA Play Down Silverstone Investigation

Formula One's governing body, the FIA, have played down concerns over the safety of the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit after launching an investigation into Juan Pablo Montoya's recent crash during testing.

The Northamptonshire circuit, which will host the British Grand Prix in July, is cooperating in an investigation into how Montoya's Williams-BMW ended up beneath the tyre barriers when he crashed at high speed last month.

An FIA spokesman said the governing body is "concerned" about the safety situations but added: "As a matter of course we look at these things but there is not any specific action against Silverstone."

Colombian Montoya was lucky to escape uninjured when he crashed into the barriers just a few hundred yards from where World Champion Michael Schumacher broke his leg in an accident at the start of the 1999 British Grand Prix. Montoya was travelling at 150mph and had the new Head and Neck Safety (HANS) device to thank for his escape, as well as a bit of luck after it was discovered his Williams chassis had broken.

His car should have rebounded off the barrier rather than burying itself under the pile of tyres and the FIA regulations stipulate that the conveyor that is used to keep the tyres together is held down in three places.

"It is fair to say we are concerned that the car ended up under the conveyor belt," said the FIA spokesman. "We shall be conducting the usual inspections to investigate the incident but there is no big investigation."

There will be no threat to the running of this year's British Grand Prix because of the safety investigation but the results are expected to lead to some modifications of the circuit ahead of the July race.