Firman Feeling 'Absolutely Great' after Crash

Briton Ralph Firman said he was feeling "absolutely great" following his massive accident during practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Jordan driver was flown by helicopter to hospital after the accident, in which his car and the barrier were destroyed after the impact, which took place at around 240 km/h after Firman lost the rear wing of his car.

Firman was briefly unconscious but soon started to recover and was trying to get out of the car on his own. The rookie was ruled out of the race after being flown to hospital with concussion and a heel injury.

"I was going fine, had done a couple of laps and all I remember is suddenly I could tell something had happened - the car sped up and felt different but I didn't know why and then almost instantly I was spearing off the track," said Firman, who will be replaced by Hungarian Zsolt Baumgartner for the remaining part of the weekend.

"I can't really remember anything between that and then being in the ambulance but more of it is starting to come back to me. I feel absolutely great in the circumstances and I'm just disappointed for the team and for myself that I'm missing this race, I was really enjoying the weekend.

"I'm keen to get back out there and see everybody tomorrow and concentrate on being fit for the Monza test. I have to thank the FIA and the team for their hard work on safety and also the circuit and hospital medical teams for looking after me so well."

Jordan said they have investigated the cause of the rear wing failure on Firman's car and admitted they were satisfied that "the risk of a recurrence is negligible."

FIA Medical Delegate Sid Watkins said the HANS device had helped Firman escape injury.

"The head and neck protective foam clearly absorbed a great deal of the energy. The introduction of the high side protective foam and the introduction of the HANS device have been a major step in improving the protection of the driver," he said.