Prost praises F1 safety standards

Prost driver Burti went head-on into the tyre wall at approximately 150mph after contact with Eddie Irvine's Jaguar early in the race. He was then trapped in the car as the tyres from the tyre wall piled up around the cockpit.

Despite the ferocity of the impact, Burti suffered no broken bones. He will however be kept in hospital overnight having received some bruising to his brain.

"It is almost a miracle that he is now out of danger, considering the violence of the impact," said Prost five hours after the race. "We have been very frightened by Luciano's accident.

"This confirms the constant safety improvements of both the F1 monocoques and of the circuit equipment. We are now a bit relieved and all the team are looking forward to seeing him recover very soon."

Prost's weekend had begun in extremely promising fashion after Heinz-Harald Frentzen placed the struggling team's lead car fourth on the grid in the wet qualifying session. But the German Jordan reject stalled at the start after his car refused to engage first gear and was put to the back of the grid. He then struggled round to finish a distant ninth after early contact damaged the floor and sidepod of his Prost-Acer.

"We were hoping for a good result today but things turned out in a totally unexpected way," Prost summarised.