Will Button's crash affect him?

"I don't know whether it will or not," the 1997 world champion said, "but if the first crash doesn't affect you then you're OK for the rest of your career. If it's a driver error (which is understood to have been the case with Button) you know you can get back in the car and trust it. And if you know why you made the error, then it's easy and it makes you feel better. But if you don't, then you might start second-guessing yourself.

"The impact didn't look too quick compared to other crashes we've seen. But it was a side one and it's very difficult to judge from the outside because something that looks small hurts a lot and something that looks huge can be peanuts."

Many feel that it's better to get back into the car as soon as possible after a shunt, but Villeneuve said: "It depends how you feel. When the adrenaline is rushing, you feel alright. When it stops, you start to feel bad. There was one crash I had where I thought I felt alright but, when I got back in the car, the steering felt twice as heavy. There had been such a big adrenaline rush that it tired my muscles completely. So you have to tell yourself not to drive even if you feel alright. You can't judge - you're proud, you're on a big rush. And sometimes you see stars when you crash - so your brain needs a rest and you need to cool down a little bit.

"Also, you could be slightly concussed - which might not affect you immediately but if you have another hit it could be very dangerous. Even if it's a small hit, it's very important to check it out first."