 Johnny Herbert , who had previously been Zanardi 's teammate in Formula One , said of the incident , " It 's a big shock to everybody . You have accidents , yes , but you don 't expect something this gruesome . " Laz Denes , a spokesman for Zanardi 's Mo Nunn Racing team , said the impact was " immense , almost harder than anything I 've ever seen . " According to Denes , the point of contact " was about 12 inches past the cockpit , " and he called Zanardi 's survival a " miracle " . Tagliani commented several days after the crash that Zanardi was constantly in his thoughts . During his hospital stay , Zanardi contacted Tagliani and told him that he was not at fault . 
