"It was destroyed, the front of the chassis broke off," he revealed, "The chassis is wedge-shaped and we imagine it went in to the barriers until the point at which it snapped. A section of about 450-500mm broke off the front of the chassis, but everything worked as it was supposed to.
"The car absorbed a massive amount of energy, Heikki received no physical injuries and the circuit emergency staff and the
FIA medical team at the track did an absolutely fantastic job in getting him out of the car safely and then looking after him thereafter."
Although he trailed the two Ferraris, team-mate
Lewis Hamilton and both
Fernando Alonso and
Robert Kubica early in the race, Kovalainen was leading at the time of his crash, due to the various pit-stop strategies, and Whitmarsh insisted that nothing should be taken away from his performance.
"His misfortune overshadowed the event, but people shouldn't overlook the quality of his performance," the CEO claimed, "He had still to pit for fuel at the time of the accident and wasn't due to come in for a few more laps yet. That gives you some idea of the fuel load he was carrying during qualifying, when he did an absolutely fantastic lap."
Kovalainen was due to be discharged from hospital on Monday evening and has already targeted a return to action in Turkey. He will rest for a few days in Spain before beginning preparations to pass the mandatory FIA physical in Istanbul.
