McNish Disappointed to Miss Final Race with Toyota

Briton Allan McNish was very disappointed after he was ruled out of what would have been his final Formula One Grand Prix with Toyota on Sunday following a big crash in qualifying.

"I think I went out with style but this is not quite the way that we wanted," the Scot said wryly after chief medical officer Sid Watkins told him not to race after Saturday's accident.

"For myself and also for all the Japanese fans it is a great disappointment because we wanted our two Toyotas as far up in the race as possible. They've got one to support now."

Toyota have not renewed McNish's contract for 2003 after a debut season in which he has failed to score a point and he has no drive lined up for next year.

"Allan is perfectly okay but Sid considers that if he were to be involved in something again so soon after his shunt yesterday, it could be bad," team boss Ove Andersson told Reuters. "It's very sad for him and for all the fans we have here," added the Swede.

"Everybody has been building up for this final Grand Prix, but you don't play with this sort of thing. If a decision is made by Sid, you have to respect it."

Andersson said that Toyota believed the Scot's crash, in which he had a lucky escape when his car swerved violently and plunged backwards at 170 mph through the barriers, was caused by driver error. McNish, a Le Mans winner who had waited more than a decade for his Formula One debut after testing early in his career, expressed his disappointment with a race that brought his career full circle.

The Scot failed to complete a lap in his debut race in Australia in March after being caught in a pile-up that knocked out half of the field.

"After the accident yesterday I rested for the rest of the day and I took part in the warm-up this morning. But after the medical examination afterwards they felt that it was best that I didn't compete," he said.

"Certainly the bruising is there, there's no question that it comes out over the next couple of days but it's not too bad. I think their concern was more about over a period of time in the car it could create some problems."