Nick Heidfeld's Sauber collided with the Mercedes Medical Car when it parked beside Enrique Bernoldi's Arrows which had crashed heavily at the exit of Turn 2 during the final minutes of warm up.  The Medical Car, containing Formula One surgeon Professor Sid Watkins and driven by Alex Ribeiro, had just arrived at the scene, parking on the far side of the severely damaged Arrows which Bernoldi was climbing out of at the time.

The session had been red-flagged, but Heidfeld appeared to be caught unawares and, faced with the stranded, burning Arrows, opted to take to the grass verge, colliding heavily with driver's door of the Medical Car which Ribeiro had just opening.  The Sauber was quite badly damaged, as was the door of the Mercedes Estate, but fortunately no one was injured.  Had the incident happened two seconds later, Ribeiro would have been standing in the jam of the door and almost certainly been killed, or at least very seriously injured.

Heidfeld faces the possibility of an FIA sanction against him if it is proven that he did not back off sufficiently and drive carefully when the session had been red flagged.