Williams Staff Escape Road Crash Unhurt

Four members of the Williams-BMW team were involved in a car accident as they travelled from their hotel to the circuit on Sunday morning but all escaped serious injury.

Among the Williams members were head of marketing Jim Wright and Peter Phillips, grandson of Britain's Queen Elizabeth, who also works in the team's marketing department and is the son of Princess Anne.

The van in which the team members were travelling was hit at high speed by another car and two of the four were taken to Shanghai hospital for further checks after initial inspection at the circuit medical centre.

In a statement Williams said: "Luckily none of the occupants in either vehicle was seriously hurt but two team members [one of them is Wright] were taken to the Shanghai hospital for further checks."

FIA professor Sid Watkins and doctor Gary Hartstein came across the incident minutes later as they were on their way to the circuit and they gave assistance before an ambulance from the track appeared.

None of the occupants of the other vehicle were hurt.