Sir Jackie Stewart saw many of his friends die in motor racing accidents and he knows a “bad one” when he sees it. After watching Heikki Kovalainen survive almost unscathed after a frightening-looking high speed accident yesterday Stewart said he had no doubt that the same impact would have killed a driver in his day.

The three-time world champion paid tribute to the excellent safety standards in Formula One that saved Kovalainen's life. “For him to come out of it is just another great example of where we are and what has happened with safety over the years,” Stewart said. “If it had been in my day, he would not have walked away from that. Not a hope in hell.”

Kovalainen was hammering along at around 145mph and had just turned right-handed into the high speed Turn 9 at the Circuit de Catalunya when his front left tyre exploded. The Finn could do almost nothing to slow the car down as it went across a narrow gravel run-off and hit the tyre barrier.

The car buried itself in the six-deep stacks of red and white lorry tyres. “Watching it and seeing how deeply it was buried was just atrocious,” Stewart said. “It was dug in very deep. It is a miracle, really, because there was no deceleration at all.”