Fisichella, Sato and Massa suffer shunts

Fisichella was understood to have suffered brake failure on his new EJ12 at Turn Two, although the team later denied this was to blame. He spun backwards into the barriers, causing what the team called a "reasonable" amount of damage to the car, and the Italian sustained a slight knee injury.

Fisichella is no stranger to big shunts at Valencia - he somersaulted his Benetton there in testing in 2000 when he clipped the rear of Jarno Trulli who, ironically, was then driving for Jordan.

Sato spun in almost exactly the same place as his team-mate, although the car was not damaged. He later admitted that driver error was to blame.

Massa flew off the track at Turn One after hitting debris, possibly a part of the diffusor from Juan Pablo Montoya's Williams, which broke his car's front wing. He wrecked one of Sauber's new C12 chassis, but was also unhurt.