Hamilton not seriously injured, Kimi on pole

(GMM) Lewis Hamilton has had a drip inserted and was wearing an oxygen mask as he was transferred to the medical centre at the Nurburgring on Saturday.

The championship leader's high speed crash during qualifying at the scene of the European grand prix, caused by a faulty wheel gun, has not caused him any serious injuries but he will be under observation for a couple of hours, reports from the venue in Germany suggest.

22-year-old Hamilton's McLaren speared into the barriers at nearly unabated speed, and he was clearly in some leg pain as he rested on the cockpit sides before medics arrived.

He was treated at the scene for some time before being stretched into an ambulance wearing a neck collar.

Such was the speed of the impact that it damaged the conveyor-belt layer on the tyre barrier and took more than 30 minutes to repair.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen ended the session with pole. If Hamilton starts the race on Sunday, it will be from tenth on the grid. Qualifying report to follow.