Fisichella will miss French GP

The Italian was pulled out of qualifying as a precaution despite suffering no physical injuries in the shunt. Jordan had hoped that he would be judged fit after a check up on race morning and would be allowed to start from the back of the grid.

But Formula 1 doctor Professor Sid Watkins has decided it would be too risky to allow Fisichella to race. He crashed heavily when the front wing folded underneath the nose of the EJ12 as he was exiting the fast Estoril right-hander. The wing had been loosened in an off on the previous lap.

Fisichella hit a tyre wall at around 150mph and endured huge deceleration forces. Professor Watkins judged that it would be too dangeorous for him to drive in case he should take another big hit during the race.

The cautious approach follows James Courtney's 180mph shunt in testing at Monza last week. The Jaguar driver also appeared uninjured, but a day later reported that he lost the feeling down one side and was suffering some vision problems.