Sainz wants safety changes after McRae accident.

Ford driver Carlos Sainz has called for more to be done to improve driver safety after team-mate Colin McRae's Corsica crash.

The Scot clipped the inside of a sixth gear corner, which resulted in his Focus WRC flipping onto its roof and slamming into trees part way down a roadside embankment. Co-driver Nicky Grist climbed unhurt from the remains of the car, but McRae was trapped in the wreckage and had to wait forty minutes before being freed.

According to Grist, the roll cage partly collapsed, trapping the driver in his seat with the weight of the roof on his chest, and leaving him calling for help. Medical crews were quickly on the scene, but the time it took to extricate McRae and ferry him to a waiting helicopter for transfer to hospital caused the stage to be cancelled.

The Scotsman's team-mate Carlos Sainz was already through the test by the time McRae crashed, but has since called for safety measures to be stepped up in the wake of the accident.

"I think world rally championship should have its own team of paramedics at each event," the Spaniard told Reuters.com, "The same team of medical staff should be at every round, and have a doctor in a helicopter on every single stage. The lives of the spectators are very important, but the lives of the drivers are of equal importance. There is a helicopter used on every stage to check spectators, and i think the drivers should have the same safety considerations."

Although McRae was seen standing at the scene of the crash, he was transferred to Bastia hospital for checks, and was later found to have a broken cheekbone and bruised lungs. He flew home to Scotland overnight, but not before insisting that he would be on the start line for the San Remo rally later in the month.