Rubens Barrichello slammed into the barriers at high speed during the tests at the Silverstone (England) circuit today. The rear suspension failed, but the Brazilian blamed the new grooved tyres he was testing. He is, just like drivers as Villeneuve and Irvine, not real pleased with the 1998 rule changes.

He said: "I don't like the new tyres, especially after the experience I have had. Something broke on the rear suspension which put me into a spin but if I had been on this year's tyres I would have just spun into the gravel. The grooved tyres didn't slow me down as much and I thought that, when I was spinning in the car, it would stop. But it didn't. It went across the gravel and then there was a big boom. It would be better and safer to have bigger tyres and reduce the power."

The prosecution is still trying to give the theory of the steering column failure as the cause of Senna's accident, because it was badly welded, more ground. Engineers of the Williams team testified today and denied the theory."

The steering column was broken but the engineers claim this was caused by the impact of the car in the wall. Damon Hill, Senna's team-mate at the time, already stated that the steering column was altered on both cars before the start of the season.

Engineer Bryan O'Rourke said: "As the front wheel hit the wall, the violent impact caused a torsion on the steering column, causing it to break."