Salo Defends 130R Corner after McNish Crash

Finn Mika Salo said today that Toyota teammate Allan McNish's crash at the 130R corner during the qualifying session was down to driver error and insisted the notorious corner should not be modified.

McNish's car broke through the barriers after the Scot lost control at the high-speed corner, but Salo, who crashed in the same place during his F3000 career, said he is unconcerned over the cause of the accident.

"It looks like he just ran wide and lost it," Salo told Sky F1 Digital+. "He was 10 (km/h) up on that lap than the previous one. We checked already and it looks like it was just on a quick lap and he lost it."

Most of the drivers have had some sort of accident at the bend and many, including former World Champions Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve, have tried to get it changed in the past.

But Salo said that after losing some of the classic corners on the Formula One calendar, Grand Prix racing needs corners like 130R and he warned the organisers not to take a knee-jerk reaction and be forced into change.

"If you walk down the pitlane and ask the guys then most of them have had an accident there and it is always a big one," said Salo. "But I don't think it should be changed. We only have a few challenging corners left in Formula One now and I think there has to be corners like this in Grand Prix racing.

"That is what it is all about - who's got the biggest balls."