Sebastien Buemi has emerged from a terrifying incident during a formula one demonstration drive in Japan.
The Swiss driver was at the wheel of a recent Red Bull single seater in Chiba, Japan, when a member of the event’s staff ran in front of him.
22-year-old Buemi, who had just performed some donuts at the event to raise money for earthquake victims, headed off for another demonstration run when the Japanese marshal ran down a steep embankment at the side of the road.
Realising he was about to be struck, the man - wearing a shirt marked ’staff’ and carrying a clipboard - jumped over the front wing and also cleared the cockpit but was struck by the rear of Buemi’s car at about 50kph.
He was shaken but basically unhurt and walking immediately afterwards, while the Toro Rosso driver also escaped injury.
"I can’t say anything about it until Red Bull has clarified the matter," Buemi told the Swiss newspaper Blick in Tokyo.