Wilson: Protester only just missed death

Wilson, who was driving for Minardi on Sunday, says that defrocked priest Father Neil Horan was only a step away for causing carnage as he ran along the Hangar Straight towards onrushing cars.

"It would have been too late if he had run in front of me," said Wilson. "I came on to the straight he was underneath the bridge, or just beyond it. You couldn't really work out what it was because there was a slight crest there so I thought it was maybe someone's front wing in the middle of the track.

"So rather than going diagonally across the circuit towards Stowe I just stayed on that side to avoid what I thought was a broken front wing. It wasn't until I got closer that I realised it was somebody on the track. And then I realised that he was running towards me!

"Before I knew it I had gone past him. If he had decided that he'd had enough [of life], you wouldn't have had a chance to react. You just don't at that kind of speed when somebody does something like that.

"If he had gone to that extreme it wouldn't have been just himself. He would have taken out the driver as well. But even if he had not tried to do something stupid and just misjudged it, again it would have killed a driver."