It's hard to judge the severity of an accident sometimes.

Berger's crash at Tamburello in 1989 looked far worse than Senna's in 1994, repeatedly hitting the wall and then bursting into flame but he got away with just burned palms.

But as soon as you see open-wheeled cars airborne, you fear the worst and with all the slipstreaming on an oval, it always seems a possibility. I held my breath when Webber got air when he clipped Kovalainen's wheel last year.

It can never be ultimately safe, but I'm glad it's much safer than in the 50s and 60s. Hard to believe Stewart was derided in some quarters for his work on safety.