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'."
Join the debate
Add your comment
Re: Barrichello denies reckless action
I'm sure Rubens acted entirely on instict having just crashed at one of the fastest points of the track. The wheel did land close to the car then take a rather big bounce. It wasn't a great judgement of course, but its not something he had a lot of time to plan. He shouldn't get a penalty.
Re: Barrichello denies reckless action
All very well Patrick, but everything is relative. He is used to high speed situations, Head's trying to give the impression that Barrichello is a normal guy that isn't used to this type of scenario. It's like saying 'oh when there are 23 other cars on a starting grid putting out 800bhp each, of course he will panic and stall'. Yes, Patrick, maybe an average road driver would behave like this, but not a paid professional racer that has spent his life in the sport. Throw the book at him, and Head too for being a twat.
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 !