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Ralf Schumacher released from hospital A punctured tire, probably from debris left on the track after an earlier crash, caused the spin that sent Ralf Schumacher into the wall during the U.S. Grand Prix, a team spokesman said Monday.
Schumacher spent the night at a hospital as a precaution and was released Monday morning. He planned to return home to Austria but skip a scheduled test session this week in Spain.
"Ralf is well, but has a bruised back and strained back muscles," said Liam Clogger, media manager for the BMW Williams team.
Two laps before Schumacher's crash, Fernando Alonso blew a right rear tire and struck a foam barrier going sideways into the first turn. Before both crashes, four cars were eliminated in an opening-lap collision.
"We examined the tires, and it was clear both were damaged by debris picked up from the track, probably in the wake of the multiple-car crash at the first corner," Michelin motorsports director Pierre du Pasquier said.
Four cars were eliminated on the opening-lap collision.
Clogger said the team did not know how long Schumacher would be out.
The next Formula One race is the French Grand Prix on July 4, and team owner Frank Williams would not have to designate either Schumacher or a substitute driver until the first day of practice July 2.
Schumacher, younger brother of race winner and six-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher, spun twice on the 10th lap coming out of the last of the 13 turns Sunday. He went backward into the wall at the start of the front straightaway and had to be taken from the car by the safety crew.
He went by ambulance to the infield hospital and was later transferred to a nearby hospital, where he was kept overnight and examined again before he was released.
"He walked himself out of the hospital and got into a car," Clogger said. |
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