Button relieved by escape

1 K Raikkonen (McLaren) 2 M Schumacher (Ferrari) 3 R Barrichello (Ferrari) 4 F Massa (Sauber) 5 G Fisichella (Sauber) 6 C Klien (Jaguar) 7 D Coulthard (McLaren) 8 O Panis (Toyota) Race report Race as it happened Pictures from Spa

Jenson Button said he was "very lucky" to escape unhurt from a 200mph crash during the Belgian Grand Prix.

The Englishman suffered a tyre failure at the fastest part of the Spa track and speared into the Minardi of Zsolt Baumgartner, who he was lapping.

"We were very lucky - it could have been horrific," Button said.

"This sort of thing should not happen. The only warning I had was that it started to feel like there was a failure after I went over a bump."

Button's was one of several punctures in a race that was littered with crashes.

Michelin launch inquiry

David Coulthard's McLaren and the Williams of Juan Pablo Montoya also suffered failures and there are likely to be criticisms that the race was not stopped at one point or another.

"It is pretty scary when it suddenly goes but we were lucky that there was a lot of run-off at the end of the straight and we were nowhere near the barrier," said Button.

"We definitely would have finished third with the Williams-BMWs not there - easy third."