Wehrlein likely to have further checks after Monaco crash

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Pascal Wehrlein ended up in one of the more bizarre accidents seen in Formula 1 during the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix this week.

Jenson Button tried to thread his McLaren down the inside of the Sauber going into Portier just before the entrance to the tunnel on lap 60. He ran out of room and the resulting contact tipped Wehrlein's car into the air and onto its side.

The car ended up perpendicular to the ground, leaning against the outside barrier. A safety car was required to allow Wehrlein to be extricated from the cockpit.

"It was just scary," said Wehrlein of the few minutes that he was trapped in the upturned car. "The brakes started to smoke and I couldn't get out of the car obviously.

"The only thing I wanted to do is get out of the car when you see the car starts to smoke," he continued. "I couldn't jump out myself."

Once the car was righted, he was finally able to get out without assistance. "I could get out of the car by myself and went for the usual medical examination," he confirmed.

Wehrlein went to the medical centre to be checked and evaluated. Although he was quickly cleared and released, he expects to have further scans later in the week.

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The German driver missed the first two races of the season after suffering a back injury at the Race of Champions in January. Doctors will want to ensure that the latest accident hasn't exacerbated his previous injuries.

"I touched my head again on the barrier, so I will have to do another scan next week for my back," he confirmed. "It seems to be okay, but obviously with the injury I had, I'm not too sure.

"It will be decided within the coming days if I need another medical investigation, because of the previous thoracic vertebra injury."

As for the accident itself, Wehrlein had no doubt where the blame lay.

"I am very upset as this is a result of an unnecessary overtaking manoeuvre," he fumed. "Button was nowhere. Clearly this corner is no place to overtake. It was a silly move.

"Bearing in mind that Jenson and I were both on a similar strategy with the pit stop in the first lap, and far off from points. [It was] an annoying incident which should not have happened."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.