GP boss says death was “billion-to-one chance”

Beveridge, 52, from Queensland - who was a spectator marshal rather than a track or fire marshal as first thought - died from severe chest injuries when struck by the detached right-rear wheel of Jacques Villeneuve's BAR. He was standing in the 'no man's land' area between the debris fencing and the spectator fence when the accident occurred.

After riding over the rear of Ralf Schumacher's Williams-BMW, Villeneuve's car hit the debris fencing while in an aerial flat spin. Its right-rear wheel impacted at a two-metre by 50cm gap in the fence, which is designed to give marshals access to the track and allow photographers to shoot through.

Both the wheel and the double wheel tethers, which are designed to keep it attached, were ripped off by the adjacent fence post and exploded through the fencing via the opening.

The rest of the car hit the fence beneath the gap, and it appears that it was only carbon fibre debris from the detached wheel assembly and suspension that caused minor injuries to a number of spectators. Beveridge is said to have been standing 10 metres away from the gap that the wheel came through.

"It was a billion-to-one-chance that that tyre came through that wall," Walker told Australian Broadcasting Corporation Radio. "There are gaps in the wall all around the track. The reason for that is that the marshals have to get out in case a car turns over and a driver is trapped beneath the car.

"For that wheel to have come through that small gap is quite an amazing phenomenon. It's just like playing cricket and you get hit between the eyes by a cricket ball or if you're playing rugby and someone elbows you in the brain. There are more accidents in contact sports then there are in Formula 1 and there's nothing else we can do to make the track any safer."

Villeneuve's car has been impounded by the Australian Police, and both Villeneuve and Ralf Schumacher have been interviewed by Police investigators.

Walker said everything in his powers would be done to help the family of the dead marshal: "We are handling the man's family in the way the public would expect."

Three eyewitness accounts of the fatal incident follow...

"This big black thing came straight through, it was like a little explosion with sparks and fire. I moved away but in a split second I noticed this guy lying down unconscious with a big tyre sitting just a few feet away from him. He had a big black mark across his chest, across the white overalls he had on. I saw one of the other marshals quickly pick up the tyre and throw it back out of the way. A young guy next to the marshal was just screaming, screaming out of the shock. Everyone was shocked but only a couple realised someone was hurt."

"Smoke went everywhere and the wheel flicked up and everyone fell back. The full tyre came through and smacked the marshal right in the chest. It was very frightening."

"One of the wheels hit a pole and then hit a marshal. We saw it coming and we grabbed each other and ducked. The car was coming straight at us and just dragged along the fence."