Frentzen Still Undecided about Indy Return

German Heinz-Harald Frentzen is still to decide whether he will replace Brazilian Felipe Massa at the Sauber team at the United States Grand Prix despite a successful test at Silverstone today.

Frentzen, who had already raced for Sauber when he made his Formula One debut in 1994, carried out a successful test at the British track. The test was aimed at seeing whether a substitution was a viable option considering the difference in height compared to Massa and teammate Nick Heidfeld.

The German veteran is considerably taller than Massa and Nick Heidfeld and was unable to fit into the car comfortably when he visited the Sauber factory at Hinwil last month. Frentzen posted the quickest time of the day at Silverstone, but team boss Peter Sauber said he was still to make a decision about the US GP.

Despite his impressive times, Frentzen ended the session with an accident at the Stowe corner, crashing heavily against the tyre barriers. Fortunately he escaped serious injury, but a further test will be carried out at the Oxford Hospital today.

"This was in fact a very impressive come back to the team by Heinz-Harald," said Sauber. "He completed 71 laps and set the fastest time of the day, and he achieved this in a seating position which is only a compromise for him. Unfortunately, Heinz-Harald went off into the tyre barrier on his very last lap which caused considerable damage to the car.

"Heinz-Harald got out of the car himself and went to the medical center at the race track for a first check, which didn't reveal any signs of an injury at this point in time. An additional routine check will be done at the Oxford hospital later today. Heinz-Harald will decide later about his potential participation in the Indy race."