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Sunday, March 4 Death overshadows Sunday's race Reuters MELBOURNE -- Three times world Formula One champion Niki Lauda called for an inquiry on Sunday into the crash which led to the death of a marshal at the Australian Grand Prix. The dead man, a Queenslander in his '50s, was struck by a wheel which flew loose after Jacques Villeneuve's BAR car crashed into the back of Ralf Schumacher's Williams early in the race. Lauda, now chief adviser with Jaguar, told the German news agency SID: "You can never totally control the human factor. An investigation must determine what Jacques Villeneuve did wrong." Villeneuve said of Ralf Schumacher: "I didn't know whether to go outside him or inside him. "He was in the middle of the track and I wasn't sure which way he would let me overtake him, on the inside or the outside. When I finally went for the outside that's when he hit the brakes. I had nowhere else to go. I couldn't miss it." In a spectacular collision, Villeneuve, who won the world championship in 1997, was sent flying into the air across the track and into the barriers, somersaulting along the fence until coming to a stop in the gravel. His car was destroyed, with all four wheels torn off and debris strewn all over the track. Both drivers escaped virtually unscathed. Careful "I was on the inside of the track going my way and being careful not to make any change of line," Schumacher said. "I braked and suddenly I felt a huge bang in my back and saw Jacques flying over me. I spun hoping that I would crash nowhere. "I think that Jacques overrated himself a bit, just like last year in Canada when he again ran into my car. "It is only thanks to the safety level of our cars that nothing had happened to either of us. "After I got out of my car I had a look into the cockpit of the BAR which was almost destroyed and I was glad to know that Jacques had already stepped out of it." Villeneuve has crossed swords in the past with Schumacher's brother, world champion Michael Schumacher, winner of Sunday's season-opening race. In the decisive grand prix of the 1997 season at Jerez in Spain, where Villeneuve won the crown, the German swerved into the Canadian. Last season, Villeneuve was also quick to join in a row over Schumacher's swerving starts. Sunday's tragedy was the second time in six months that a marshal had been killed at a Formula One race. Italian Paolo Ghislimberti died at Monza last September when he was hit by flying debris. The death completely overshadowed Sunday's race in Melbourne where there was no champagne sprayed on the podium and no celebrations among the drivers. Michael Schumacher said: "Obviously we are all shocked about this. Certainly everyone is very much down."  Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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