Gene: 'I'm ready to race'

Schumacher Jr's scary accident at the United States Grand Prix last weekend left the German battered and bruised and suffering from a concussion. While neither he nor the team have confirmed he will not race in France, it is highly likely that the he will give it a miss for fear of suffering another concussion so soon.

While many names have been thrown into the hat as a possible replacement for Schumacher, it is likely that the official reserve driver Gene will step into the cockpit, just as he did at the Italian GP last year after Schumacher was sidelined with another concussion after a testing crash at Monza.

The Spaniard - who carried out pitstop practice during testing at Jerez today (Wednesday) in what could be seen as preparation for a race stand-in - says he is ready to race if he gets the nod.

"I haven't been officially told, but whatever the outcome, I'm quite prepared," he told autosport.com. "But at the moment I'm just living day by day."

Second test driver Antonio Pizzonia could also be in the frame, but the Brazilian has acknowledged that Gene is the team's reserve driver and carried out an entirely separate programme to the Spaniard during testing at Jerez, rather than anything that could be construed as a shoot-out for the potentially vacant seat.