Stowe tyred after Zonta crash.

Silverstone officials have added extra layers of tyres to the barrier at Stowe corner, following Ricardo Zonta's accident in testing last week.

The Brazilian somersaulted over the catch fencing at the corner after his undertray dug into the gravel trap, and came to rest in the restricted area between the barriers and a spectator enclosure. Although the Brazilian was largely uninjured in the incident, the circuit has reacted to criticism from Michael Schumacher - who crashed at Stowe in last year's British GP - by adding extra protection to the barriers.

Little has been done to improve the gravel trap at the corner, but an extra layer of tyres has been added to the height of the tyre wall and two extra rows added to its depth, prior to this weekend's grand prix meeting. Zonta's car is understood to have been bounced off the top of the tyres on Thursday last week, but the driver escaped with just a cut finger.

''After the crash, we immediately held talks with FIA safety delegates,'' revealed Silverstone spokesman Peter Morris, ''and decided that it was necessary to make changes. It was also deemed that the work need to be done urgently, so we have done it to be ready for this Sunday's race.''