Lotus Racing's chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne believes Mark Webber should accept responsibility for his spectacular accident in Sunday's European Grand Prix.

Webber was fortunate to walk away unscathed after smashing into the back of Heikki Kovalainen's Lotus, a 190mph shunt that propelled the Australian's Red Bull into the air.

After crash landing back onto the Valencia track, Webber's momentum then saw him hurtle into a tyre wall, yet despite the magnitude of the shunt the 33-year-old was unharmed.

After the accident Webber effectively blamed Kovalainen, claiming the Finn braked 80 metres earlier than he himself had done on the preceding laps.

"Obviously neither driver wanted it to happen, but from our point of view Heikki was driving in a straight line, defending his position and then someone hits him from behind," Gascoyne told Press Association Sport.

"So where the mistake lies is fairly clear from our point of view. I'm sure Mark will have a different one."

When Webber's explanation was put to Gascoyne, he added: "Mark's charged up behind Heikki, he's got the quicker car and Heikki has to brake where he brakes because of the grip he has.

"At the end of the day it's up to the guy overtaking to do so safely, and he didn't.

"If you hit someone from behind it's not the fault of the guy in front.

"Heikki braked where he was supposed to brake and someone hit him, so that's our point of view."

Referring to the collision between Webber and team-mate Sebastian Vettel in Turkey four weeks ago, Gascoyne pointedly added: "Mark's now had two accidents in three races and it's never been his fault."

Gascoyne was able to speak his mind freely in the knowledge neither driver, in particular Webber, was hurt.

"That is the most important thing," said Gascoyne.

"He was under pressure because he was having a bad race, but he wouldn't have wanted that.

"We didn't want it either because we are trying to race our own race, and it's one of those things. It's motor racing. It happens."

On what was the occasion of Lotus' 500th grand prix, it was a race to forget for the Norfolk-based, Malaysia-funded team, especially as Clive Chapman, son of founder Colin, was in attendance.

"It was a shame, but again that's motor racing," remarked Gascoyne.

"You can have cracking races when you don't expect them, and then you can get unlucky. That's life.

"It was still a good milestone, it's nice to have passed it, and it was great the Chapman family were there.

"Ultimately it was they who decided whether it was the 500th race or not, and they were here to celebrate it with us, so it's been great."

As for what will be the team's second home race of the year, the British Grand Prix in 13 days' time, the objective is straightforward.

Gascoyne said: "A better race - as simple as."

Mark Webber was a relieved man after surviving a 190mph smash at the European Grand Prix.

Webber was sent airborne after crashing into the back of the Lotus of Heikki Kovalainen on the fastest part of the Valencia street circuit.

Spectacular on-board footage captured the moment as Webber hurtled into Kovalainen, the force of the impact flipping up the Australian and somersaulting him through the air.

Webber's Red Bull initially landed upside down on its nose before momentum sent it bouncing off the track onto the rear of the car, eventually righting itself.

A 100-metre slide into a tyre barrier followed, with Webber pinging back off it like a rubber ball and eventually coming to rest.

Within seconds Webber was throwing his steering wheel out of the car and removing his HANS device, a clear sign he was unharmed.

"I knew as soon as it happened that I was involved in a huge crash, that I was just a passenger," said Webber.

"Headline stuff was going through my head when I was in the air, but that's the game we're in and some days that happens.

"I lost some points, but in the end when you're up there, you're not worried about points.

"I was worried that I was going to be okay, ready for Silverstone, and other than a few scratches and bruises, I will be.

"You cannot control where you are going and how hard the hits are going to be, and of course the hits were pretty hard.

"I was worried about hitting a bridge or something in the air. I knew I was a long way up.

"Fortunately, the first was not too hard. It was okay because I had a massive forward momentum, so that was good.

"I remain incredibly positive. We go on, it's halfway through the championship, so bloody hell, let's get on with it."

The chassis was the one in which Webber won his races in Monaco and Barcelona, and he added: "It has been good to me, and it was good to me as it saved me from some injures."

Sebastian Vettel may have won the European GP but his thoughts were on his team-mate Mark Webber following the Aussie's horror shunt.

Webber suffered a massive accident on Lap 10 of the Valencia race when he hit the back of Heikki Kovalainen's Lotus. The impact sent the Aussie's Red Bull racer flying over the Lotus and somersaulting through the air before crashing back onto the track. From there Webber slammed into the barriers at high speed.

The 37-year-old immediately threw his steering wheel out of his car and climbed out unaided, a testament to Formula One's improved safety.

"Most important today is the fact that Mark had quite a big shunt and the fact he is fine," said Vettel in the post-race press conference. "It shows the cars are safer and safer but shows there is still a risk.

"Seeing the pictures, the most important fact is that Mark is fine.

"For some people they miss the attraction and they say this time in F1 compared to 30 years back is boring and nothing happens, but on days like this you get reminded that the speeds are high and when things go wrong they can go spectacularly wrong."

As for his own race, Vettel led off the grid and was involved in a bit of Lap 1 argy-bargy with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton as they tussled for the lead.

"Braking for Turn 1 I had no reason to do anything stupid, I saw Lewis was quite late on the brakes, tried to give as much room as I could," said Vettel.

"Once you set your braking point you can't relax, it was getting quite close, there wasn't much I could do to go further on the left.

"I thought we touched, I felt the hit but couple of corners I felt there was nothing wrong with the car. I thought he hit the inside kerb a bit and maybe got a jump.

"It was closer than I expected, closer than I wanted, but after that I was very happy with the car, able to pull away, and managed a very good gap at the time."

However, that wasn't the only time he had to fend off the McLaren driver as, with his lead negated by the Safety Car brought out for Webber's accident, Hamilton was once again right behind him. Vettel, though, was lucky to have the Safety Car pick him up at the exact right time.

"I was a bit afraid when I saw the SC boards on the main straight because obviously 20 seconds earlier and not able to react, I didn't know where the guys were behind me," he said.

"I thought maybe they could get a stop for free but it worked out pretty well and we managed the situation very well."

He added: "The restart was tough. I had big lock up and was trying to defend and was probably a bit too late. I had a bit of a front right flat spot after that but when I knew Lewis had a drive-through then I adjusted the pace and tried to bring the car home."