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Webber Wary of Circuit Security after Silverstone

Australian Mark Webber fears copycat protestors could be encouraged to run on to the track during Formula One races because of circuit officials boasting about their security arrangements.

Australian Mark Webber fears copycat protestors could be encouraged to run on to the track during Formula One races because of circuit officials boasting about their security arrangements.

The Jaguar driver, who narrowly missed an intruder on Silverstone's Hangar Straight during Sunday's British Grand Prix, criticised Hungary for saying such an incident could not happen at their race next month.

"Budapest have stupidly said it will never happen at our track, which is just absolutely perfect medicine for someone to do it," Webber told reporters. "You know - 'we'll show you that we can do it'."

Hungaroring race director Laszlo Palik, whose race is on August 24, said last Monday that "we won't allow this to happen here in Hungary".

The governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) has written to all circuits hosting the remaining five races of the season to ask them to be "particularly vigilant".

Webber relived the moment on Sunday when he saw the kilted Irish interloper jogging down the track, waving placards with exhortations to "Read the Bible".

"When you realise you could have killed someone...it's pretty harsh and you think about what could have been," he said.

"It's amazing how some absolute nutter can just do something which is just so unfair on so many people, on the drivers, the event itself. There's kids in the crowd...If we had hit him there would have been nothing left of him.

"These things are absolute missiles. These type of people don't understand where the racing line is, they understand nothing.

"Had he been a bit further over I don't know if I could have (avoided him)," said Webber. "You can see...but you're not expecting it. Certain times I could have been having a drink or changing a switch and been another metre and a half left and he would have been gone.

"The way he was running around, he was just so confident that I thought this is going to turn pear-shaped for him. You do not go running around on a race track when there are 20 Formula One cars racing each other. You don't have to be very clever to work that one out."

The next race is at Hockenheim in Germany on August 3, a circuit where an interloper walked alongside the track in 2000.

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