Heikki: The worst accident of my career.

Heikki Kovalainen has branded his Spanish Grand Prix shunt as the worst accident of his racing career, even though he emerged from underneath the turn nine tyre barrier with little more than bruising and a concussion.

The Finn was leading the Barcelona race - albeit as the first pit-stop window played out - when a wheel rim failure pitched his McLaren off the track, across the gravel trap, and into the tyres, and it was some time before he could be extricated, causing fears for his safety. However, despite the front of the McLaren breaking off under pressure, Kovalainen required just an overnight stay in the local hospital.

"It was a serious accident [that] I managed to walk away from," he reflected, "I've had a couple of serious accidents before, but I never knocked myself out like that and therefore it's got to be the most serious accident so far.

"I think I was a little bit lucky, but also must stress that all the safety standards that the FIA has been pushing for worked very well there. The chassis took the impact reasonably well, as did the barriers. The FIA medical team and the marshals did a fantastic job to get me out of there quickly and, in a short period of time, I am able to make a recovery without any injuries in my body. I think it is something that we must still keep working on, but the work paid off that day."

There now appears to be some confusion as to whether the likeable Finn actually lost consciousness in the accident. The driver claims that he may have blacked out temporarily, but insists that, despite having little recollection of the impact and immediate aftermath, he was not unconscious.

"I don't think I lost consciousness at any point," Kovalainen insisted, "The first people who arrived at the scene reported me being awake and assisting getting myself out of there, but I don't have any idea, I don't remember that. But, after such a hit on the head, I think it's a bit of a shutdown by the body to protect your brain and your organs. I don't have any issues with that.

"It would be good if, one day, the whole image came back into my head. I don't think I would have any problem with that but, at the moment, all that I can talk about is what I saw on the video.

"I've obviously seen the images, that the tyres were over me and that I sort of penetrated through the tyre wall, but I don't remember that moment. I remember being in intensive care in the hospital in the city, a lot of people around me. I was a bit confused as to what had happened, so I asked my team doctor 'what are we doing here?' and he explained what happened. After that, the memory has been normal and I was aware of everything after that. That's where I got back on track.

"I have no idea about waving my hand but, as I said earlier, I never lost consciousness. I was awake all the time, assisting the people helping me, I told them to take my crash helmet off, I assisted them by telling them I had no injuries, that I was okay. It's just that the brain was confused and I didn't record anything on my hard drive, if you like. Then, when things calmed down a bit and the brain started working again - that was back in the hospital in the town - since then, it's all been okay. But it's good for you if I waved, and I guess I felt everything was fine."

As well as being able to see the accident on video after the event, Kovalainen also revealed that he had physical evidence of the impact.

"There are quite a lot of marks, but I think the helmet did its work," he revealed, "It took the impact very well and I didn't have any injuries to my head - that's the most important thing.

The Finn repeatedly praised the safety measures in place in Formula One, although he did question whether the amount of time that it took to extract him from the car - caused by the tyre structure falling on top of the cockpit - could have been marginal in a more serious incident.

"It's something that we all should look very carefully at, to see if there are better compromises," he admitted, "Luckily, I had no injuries and I was not in a hurry to get out of there. My life was not threatened because of that, so in this case, the tyres did the work very well. But, had I injured myself while hitting the barrier, maybe then it was more important to get myself out of there quickly and it would have been a bit marginal. It's something we should have a look at."

Asked if he would have preferred to see the sort of barrier used in the United States replace the more traditional European tyre wall, Kovalainen said that there were other considerations to take into account.

"I think we probably should look more individually at the most dangerous corners," he explained, "We can see ourselves which are the most critical places, and probably make decisions accordingly. It's not that straightforward, just adding some kind of wall here and everywhere. It's not that simple. For myself, at turn nine in Barcelona, [the tyre wall] worked very well this time, but we've just got to see if we can do anything better - and look at other corners as well."

The Finn will be back in action in Turkey this weekend, having passed the FIA's mandatory fitness assessment, and showed that he had lost none of his trademark sense of humour.

"It's basically the test all the drivers have to go through when they start their career in F1," he revealed, "When I started last year in Australia, I did the base line test. It is a combination of tests and calculations. Basically, they check how your brain and body is working and the reactions. I redid the test this morning and improved the score, so the impact seems to have a good effect!

"The morning after the accident, I had a little bit of a headache but, since then, it has improved quite rapidly. It was on Thursday when I got out of Spain and, on Saturday, I started normal training in Finland. Since then, everything has been normal and I am looking forward to a strong weekend, getting back in the car. I feel 100 per cent."