Schumacher's 180mph miracle escape

Michael Schumacher had a miracle escape today when he walked away unscathed from a terrifying 180mph crash.

The World Formula 1 racing champion was practising for Sunday's Australian Grand Prix.

He was going "flat out" when he lost control of his Ferrari three minutes before the end of the second hour-long session of the day. Fans watched in horror as the car skidded out of control, barrel-rolling twice in mid-air.

The 32-year-old German was not injured and climbed out of the cockpit without help. "It looked more horrid than it was," he said.

"I did not have a major impact at all. I was going flat-out and though I braked very hard it was not enough to make the speed needed for that corner. But it was a really soft impact and I did not hit the wall or anything."

While he shrugged off the accident, Schumacher did criticise race organisers. He said there had been a problem with the yellow warning flags and said the transition from grass to gravel, which probably caused his car to flip, was not good enough. He warned officials yesterday that improvements needed to be made, having inspected the track as part of his duties with the Grand Prix Drivers' Association.

"It was lucky for me that the impact was not heavier, it could have been worse," Schumacher added.

The Swiss-based driver had been following his team-mate Rubens Barrichello, who set an Albert Park lap record of 1 min 28.965 seconds, as the official pacesetter.

The Brazilian slashed almost one-third of a second off Jacques Villeneuve's 1997 lap record during the 60-minute morning session before going one-tenth of a second quicker in the afternoon.