Schuey says F1 can't have total safety

The German has also called into question the effectiveness of tyre barriers after the Brazilian's Prost-Acer was engulfed in tyres, pinning him in the car for some time.

Burti suffered bruising of the brain after his Prost went head-on into the barrier after making contract with the rear of former team mate Eddie Irvine's Jaguar at the flat-out, left-hand kink before Blanchimont corner - the fastest part of the Spa track. While Irvine spun and went into the barrier backwards before bouncing off, Burti's car was swamped with tyres as it hit the barrier.

Burti's head was trapped by the tyres and it took marshals several minutes before they could get the 26-year-old out of the car. Schumacher, who went on to win Sunday's race, believes that despite massive progress in safety standards, there will always be a risk.

"With these speeds this can happen," said Schumacher. "I don't know whether the tyres caused a problem and it's something we need to analyse, but everyone has done a good job to improve the safety there. There used to be a kink [in the barrier] there. We still have to learn and improve. The way that it happened was unusual, but we will never have total safety."

Irvine, who was first on hand at the accident, set about trying to pull the tyres off Burti. The accident was deemed to be a racing incident by race stewards, but Burti is understood to be angry with Irvine and blames the Ulsterman for taking him off.

"I knew Luciano was there, but I didn't expect him to have a go on the inside of that corner," said Irvine. "When I first got there, I feared the worst. It really was a huge crash. Luciano was completely buried under the tyres."

Team boss Alain Prost praised the safety standards in Formula 1 and the four-time world champion believes the strength of modern F1 chassis design is what saved his driver.

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

Burti was taken to hospital in Liege where he underwent a scan which showed his brain to be bruised, but not swollen. The Prost driver was kept in overnight as and is due to have another scan this morning (Monday).

It is not yet known whether he will be fit enough to race at the Italian Grand Prix in two weeks' time. It will largely depend on his progress within the next few days.