Cita:
Ralf may miss France and Britain
Ralf Schumacher may be forced to miss the French GP, and possibly the British GP, after his horror crash during Sunday's United States GP.
The Williams driver crashed heavily in the fastest section of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway track, spinning backwards into the barriers at Turn 13 while travelling at around 320kph. The force of the impact concussed Ralf and caused and heavy bruising to his back.
Ralf is expected to remain in hospital for the next few days because of fears of a 'secondary reaction' to the crash. It is not certain yet whether he will be fit to race in the next event, the French GP, in two weeks' time or even the race the following weekend at Silverstone.
"There is clearly a question mark (about his participation)," acknowledged BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen. "I cannot tell now what it will be but it has to be his own decision - tomorrow (Monday) he has to decide what to do."
"I cannot really judge on the impact of such an accident. I think if the racing driver is ready to race, it is obvious that he will race. If not, we have to see what to do."
Should he miss the French race it will be the second time in two years that Ralf has failed to participate in a race after sustaining a concussion in an accident.
Last year he missed the Italian GP after a heavy crash during the previous week's Monza test. Ralf was replaced by Marc Gene, who is the most likely candidate to fill his seat should he miss round ten of the Championship.
However, Williams' second test driver Antonio Pizzonia will also be urging the team to choose him as racing at Magny-Cours. Pizzonia, like Gene, is hoping to replace Ralf should he, as expected, opt to leave Williams for Toyota at the end of the season.
The other question mark hangs over how the accident will affect Ralf in the long-term.
According to Patrick Head, the German is still suffering the affects of his 2003 Monza shunt. "He still has problems today. In qualifying in Barcelona in five places he braked 10 to 15 metres earlier than normal," Head told Auto Bild in May this year.
Niki Lauda, though, believes the best thing for Ralf to do to avoid long-term repercussions would be to get back in the car as soon as possible.
"A driver of his calibre should be able to forget about something like this pretty quickly as long as he's not seriously hurt," the triple World Champion told Reuters.
"He's got to get back in the car and drive as soon as possible. As long as there's no pain he's got to start driving right away. He might have some muscle pain but that's something that can be taken care of fairly easily."
Toyota will also be keeping a close eye on Ralf's progress. The team had been reportedly set to confirm that the German would be joining the team in 2005 at Magny-Cours, but that plan, if true, will clearly have to be scrapped.
Moreover, the Cologne outfit will be keen for Ralf to prove that there are no long-term repercussions from Sunday's crash before their multi-million deal is secured. With reports suggesting that the younger Schumacher will earn $100m at Toyota over five years, the prospect of signing 'damaged goods' will not be part of their equation.
|
Fuente:
www.planet-f1.com
Por favor, si no se recupera Ralf que pongan a Gené en su lugar, que el Pizzonia ya sabemos como se las gasta!!! :nono