Currently reading: Barrichello denies reckless action
Williams driver explains why he threw his steering wheel from his car

F1 driver Rubens Barrichello has denied he acted recklessly by throwing his steering wheel from his crashed car during the Monaco Grand Prix.

The Brazilian crashed out at high-speed on lap 31 of the race when his suspension failed, hitting the barriers on both sides of the track.

He then threw his steering wheel from the car, and it was subsequently run over by HRT's Karun Chandhok. He dragged it as far as the tunnel section, where it was subsequently run over by his team-mate Bruno Senna.

Barrichello's action was in contravention of the rules, which state a driver must replace a car's steering wheel after he has vacated it.

"I threw the steering wheel because I wanted to get out of the car as soon as possible," said Barrichello. "After the shunt I was facing the wrong side of the track and the car was on fire."

Williams co-owner Patrick Head backed Barrichello's actions, saying: "If you are standing in the middle of a 120mph corner, you tend to think 'let's get out of here as quickly as you can'."

Deborah Chennells

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mfe 19 May 2010

Re: Barrichello denies reckless action

Just looked at it again on youtube and he seems to end up right in the middle of the track so whichever side he threw it would have been wrong !

Wanos 19 May 2010

Re: Barrichello denies reckless action

It did seem pretty reckless to me but as pointed out if your cars on fire you just want to get out of there as fast as possible. I think a slap on the wrist is all he deserves though.

Peter Cavellini 19 May 2010

Re: Barrichello denies reckless action

Montoya's do well in America, Ruben's ?!