Schumacher: Crash Could have been a Lot Worse

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Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher walked away from his second big accident in two weeks and acknowledged he had escaped lightly.

Brazilian Luciano Burti careered into the back of his Ferrari at the start of the German Grand Prix and Burti's car rose vertically and rolled before narrowly missing the Arrows of compatriot Enrique Bernoldi. Schumacher, the Championship leader who crashed into a guard-rail at Monza at full speed two weeks ago, said he had slowed on the grid after a gear selection problem.

"I did not know where to go and when I saw Burti in my mirrors I couldn't move out of the way," said the German, who eventually retired after 23 laps but maintained his 37-point lead with five races to go. "It was a difficult situation but it could have been a lot worse. After the pit stop I had a fuel pressure problem and I had to retire."

Burti said in a team statement that he had little time to react to Schumacher's Ferrari.

"I could not see him. He slowed down in the middle of the track among all the cars in front of me. When I saw him it was too late to avoid the crash. I think the accident looked worse on TV than I experienced in my car," added the Brazilian, who restarted the race but retired on the same lap as Schumacher.

He said he had hurt his left arm in the crash and the steering wheel had become increasingly heavy, leading to him crashing out on a corner. Bernoldi said he had made a good start and the first thing he knew about the accident was when Burti's car came sailing over his head.

"The wheel landed on my car and broke the engine cover and the rear wing. It was a pretty big hit."