Carnage in Monaco
Lewis Hamilton, who was second fastest on the time sheets at the time, carried too much speed into Ste Devote (turn 1) and crashed heavily at an estimated 80mph.
It is the 22-year-old's first major mistake after a sensational opening four races of his formula one career.
Shortly beforehand, the McLaren driver's countryman and fellow rookie Anthony Davidson (Super Aguri) also hit the tire barriers at Ste Devote.
Yet another Briton, Scotland's David Coulthard, clouted the tires at the Loews hairpin, but – unlike his countrymen – managed to get his damaged Red Bull back to the pits.
Finally, in an incident that temporarily brought out the red flags, Spyker's Adrian Sutil smacked the barrier at Portier, causing heavy damage to the left side of his car.
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Silverstone based F1 team Spyker is this weekend supporting the ongoing search for missing 3-year-old British girl Madeleine McCann.
'Maddy' went missing from a holiday apartment in Portugal earlier this month. The cars of Christijan Albers and Adrian Sutil are carrying stickers on their cars' engine covers to remind race fans that the little girl has still not been found.