Minardi withdraws from race

Team boss Paul Stoddart said: "It's the hardest decision a team owner has to make but we feel that it is the only responsible thing that we can do in the circumstances. I really feel for the guys at the factory who put such an effort into remanufacturing the front wings and getting them here, but the safety of the drivers is paramount."

Stoddart explained that the rear wing is the same as those used in earlier races this season but was newly manufactured.

"It was a stress failure along a line of rivets and while it is true that Barcelona subjects wings to greater loading than other places we have raced at so far, we have stress-tested our rear wings to twice the projected loads at this track. We calculated 450kgs and we have tested our wings to 900kgs. We will be launching a full investigation before the Austrian Grand Prix in a fortnight."

Webber confirmed that the first he knew of the failure was when he reached the braking area for the Esses at the end of the straight.

"I was actually making a change to the engine mapping at the same time and I thought that a little jink might have been down to that, but as soon as I went on the brakes I knew exactly what the problem was. But this is F1, we are on the edge, the guys have worked fantastically hard this weekend and I'm still fully behind them."