Schumacher recovering from horror crash

Ralf Schumacher spent last night in hospital under observation following another horror smash which is likely to rule him out of the French Grand Prix in a fortnight.

Schumacher suffered back pain and bruising after careering backwards into a wall during yesterday’s United States Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The left-rear tyre punctured on Schumacher’s BMW Williams due to track debris sustained from a first corner accident on the opening lap of the 73-lap race, which resulted in the retirements of Christian Klien in the Jaguar, Giorgio Pantano in the Jordan, Gianmaria Bruni in the Minardi and the Sauber of Felipe Massa.

Fernando Alonso’s Renault then suffered a 200mph blowout on lap nine, the car violently smashing into a wall before careering down the track and ploughing into a polystyrene advertising block in the run-off area, where the Spaniard eventually came to rest unscathed.

The Alonso incident was followed a lap later by the smash involving Schumacher, who came to rest in the middle of the pit straight, with pieces of his battered car strewn across the track.

Schumacher was attended to by trackside doctors. He complained of back pain, and they took every possible precaution before stretchering him into an awaiting ambulance and taken to the nearby Methodist Hospital, where he underwent a series of tests.

“He is in a lot of pain,” confirmed team boss Frank Williams.