By Huw Alban
April 29 2002

The OrangeArrows Brazilian Grand Prix weekend took a heart stopping turn for the worst when the A23 of Enrique Bernoldi hit the wall at turn 2. An unsighted Sauber had to take to the grass in order to avaid the stricken Arrows, damaging the FIA safety car in the process ! Enrique Bernoldi endured a lucky escape this morning during the morning warmup. He had a relatively minor spin at turn 2 of the circuit, but because of the small amount of runoff at the corner hit the wall. The accident caused extensive damage to his car, with flames licking out of the engine cover as he tried to get out of the cockpit.

The FIA safety car was deployed and pulled in front of Bernoldi's stricken car. As Michael Schumacher's Ferrari went wide around the A23, a Sauber hurtled around the corner and took to the grass on the inside of the Arrows in an attempt to avoid an accident. The Sauber scraped along the wall there and hit the open passenger door of the FIA safety car. Fortunately no-one was hurt, but the OrangeArrows team will have their work cut out for them in order to get Bernoldi's car ready for the race.

"I spun and hit the wall, because there is not much run-off there," Bernoldi explained immediately after the accident to F1 Digital plus. "Lots of cars were passing me, so I didn't know whether to get out or not. Heidfeld was one of the last cars past me, and just as I was getting out, he hit the medical car."

The Sauber car involved in the accident was that of Nick Heidfeld. "I didn't see any yellow flags," the German said. "There was a Ferrari in front of me, which took some of my vision away, and I was left with nowhere to go. There was a bit of a gap on the left, but then the guy opened his door. I tried to go even more to my left but there wasn't room."

The good news from the session was that OrangeArrows were far more competitive, finishing the session 8th and 10th.