Raikkonen Crashes Heavily at Barcelona

McLaren driver Kimi Raikkonen has suffered a large crash at the Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona this afternoon.

The Finn, who has been heavily involved in the team's recent test programme at the northern Spanish circuit, was running downhill into turn 11 when the car snapped violently across the track, hitting the barrier and spiraling the car into a serious of lurid spins, which finished at the pitlane entrance.

The circuit operators offered to call an ambulance to take Raikkonen to the local hospital, but the team asked merely for a doctor to call on the stricken driver. The Finn was taken immediately into one of the team's trucks, looking dizzy and shaken up, with their physiotherapist and a number of engineers. It is uncertain at this stage if he was injured.

The car was mostly undamaged on the right hand side, but almost completely destroyed on the left. The team, who have had problems recently in testing due to a lack of parts, most notably wishbones, ceased testing for the day.