Rowan Atkinson crashes McLaren F1

Rowan Atkinson has been described as ”shaken but not stirred” after crashing his £2million supercar for a SECOND time.

‘Mr Bean’ was in his 240mph McLaren F1 sports car driving to his Northamptonshire home when he span off the road on the A605 near Haddon, Cambs., at 7.30pm on Thursday.

The comedian crashed into a tree and a road sign but managed to escape the vehicle relatively unscathed.

Atkinson remained at Peterborough City Hospital with a ”painful” shoulder injury but was expected to be released later in the day.

The famous McLaren F1 was removed from the crash scene by a local recovery company and taken back to Atkinson’s home.

It was the second time Atkinson had crashed the powerful vehicle, having ploughed into the back of a Rover Metro in Lancashire in 1999.

Agent Peter Bennett-Jones revealed Atkinson was driving home after working on his latest film Johnny English Reborn, in which he plays a clumsy English spy.

Mr Bennett-Jones said: ”He suffered a painful shoulder injury but we are expecting him to be discharged later. He is shaken but not stirred.

”I think he was in pain and had some painkillers and stayed in hospital because obviously he didn’t have a car to get home. It is nothing more serious than that.

”I spoke to the hospital and they said he was kept in overnight in observation and his shoulder was in pain.

”I have no idea if the car has been written off. It’s been removed and I’m sure he won’t want it to be written off.

”It has been taken back to his home and I’m sure he will want to get it repaired straight away.

”Rowan has been finishing off the editing of his latest Johnny English film and probably on the way back home, as he only lives round the corner in Northamptonshire.

”He will be very rattled by the whole thing and I think he’ll want to keep as low profile as possible.”

A spokesman for Cambridgeshire Constabulary said no one else was involved in the crash and the road was closed for an hour to clear the wreckage.

Atkinson was given a breath test at the scene but it proved negative, the spokesman added.

He said: ”We were called to the scene of a single vehicle collision on the A605 westbound near Haddon at about 7.30pm.

”The driver of the vehicle, a man, was taken to Peterborough City Hospital with serious injuries but not life threatening injuries. The road was cleared by 8.30pm.”

Cambridgeshire Constabulary also said police officers spoke to Atkinson at Peterborough City Hospital but he has not been arrested.

They added: ”As is routine we spoke to the driver involved following the collision as anyone involved in a crash like this would be.

”The inquiry it it has finished and no arrests have been made.”

A spokesman for Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service said three crews were sent to the scene.

She said: ”The driver was out of the vehicle by the time firefighters arrived. They extinguished the fire using one hose reel.”

Atkinson is one of entertainment’s biggest petrolheads, admitting he ”derives pleasure from anything four-wheeled, from a go-kart to a Bentley”.

An avid racer, Atkinson has competed in a number of races while driving a 1950s Jaguar Mk 7 and a 1986 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Zagato.

His passion is for Aston Martin, having owned a number of the English marque’s vehicles but the McLaren F1 was his biggest extravagance – spending #650,000 on the then world’s fastest and most expensive car in 1997.

The F1 was a technological tour-de-force when it was launched in the mid-1990s.

Using a 6.1-litre engine, it could accelerate from 0-60mph in 3.2 seconds and reach a top speed of 240mph.

Just 64 standard F1s were built with models changing hands for around #2 million today with a delivery mileage F1 selling at auction in October 2008 for £2.53 million

McLaren are set to take the vehicle to the company headquarters in Woking to ”assess the damage”.

Any engine damage will mean sending the block back to BMW in Germany.

A spokesman for McLaren said: ”We are discussing with his team about bringing it back to assess the damage and look at repairing it.

”It has a carbon-fibre chassis which is more repairable than normal cars.

”Our first concern was Rowan and we’re pleased that he is stable.

”We have a responsible team at McLaren and we keep in touch with F1 owners around the world.

”The first thing we do is make sure the car is safe. We will then investigate it and any work that is required we will be happy to undertake.”