Schumacher Calls for Calm to Avoid Start Chaos Repeat

Australian Grand Prix winner Michael Schumacher has blamed the dramatic first corner accident in Sunday's race at Albert Park on over exuberance.

Schumacher had warned of a potential accident in a press conference on the Thursday before the race and his concerns were proved correct by the crash, which involved his brother Ralf and his Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello.

"It needs everybody to just be a little bit more calm at the first race to avoid that," he said. "And we talked about this in Thursday's press conference. But then you can't control it.

"That's part of racing, that's part of emotions and part of the reason why you (journalists) write for it - because it is so interesting. It's costly and not really nice that things like that happen - but it has always been part of it."

Schumacher admitted he was immediately on the radio to the pits after seeing his brother Ralf's Williams car hit Barrichello and fly through the air. He was aware that the accident could have been a severe one, and was relieved when he saw his younger brother out of the car and running down the pitlane.

"(I was) very frightened," he said. "When you touch a rear wheel and the car is launched into the air, if you go into the wrong area you hurt yourself badly. I was very concerned and I was on the radio immediately to check out what is going on with him.

"But I was told he was fine and I saw him running down the straight so he was obviously lucky but it is not something you wish to happen."