Rubens escapes heavy crash

Barrichello is thought to have lost control of his F2001 on the fast second to last corner of the lap and left the track at close to 150mph. Reports suggest that the car skidded off and flipped into the air after hitting the barrier.

Despite the fact that the circuit barrier was damaged by the impact and that running was stopped for almost 40 minutes, Barrichello escaped unhurt. Although a little shaken, the Ferrari number two is thought to have got out of the car unaided.



"He [Barrichello] is absolutely fine," said a spokesperson for the Maranello-based team.

The Brazilian hurt his shoulder during the incident and was taken to a nearby hospital for a check-up, but was cleared with no broken bones. He is not expected to drive for the next few days.

"Where Rubens went off is not a particularly nice spot, but I am not worried about it," said team mate Michael Schumacher of the smash.

Schumacher and the other teams present, British American Racing and Williams-BMW, continued running.