Heidfeld Eyes Japanese GP Return

The German is planning to test for Williams at Jerez in Spain next week so he can gauge whether he will be able to make a return - but he believes his injuries are not as bad as initially thought.

"I knew pretty quickly that there would be no chance for Brazil, because I have cracked my right shoulder blade, but there isn't so much damage to my fingers," he said in an interview with Autosport-Atlas.

"Some reports said I had broken bones in my left hand, but that's not true. My little finger is pretty sore, because it's still filled with blood, which is restricting the movement, but other than that, it's not too bad.

"I think it will take more than two weeks to recover, but I'm hoping to test the car at Jerez after Brazil and see how I feel. That will allow us to make a judgement for the last two races."

Although Juan Pablo Montoya missed two races after fracturing his shoulder in a tennis accident earlier this season, Heidfeld is hopeful that his injuries are nowhere near as bad. He hopes that he can be fit for the Japanese Grand Prix on October 9.

"The biggest problem is that there's restricted movement in my right shoulder, because of inflammation and swelling," he added. "But it's improving day by day, so I'm optimistic."

Talking about his accident, where Heidfeld was involved in a collision with a motorcycle, he claimed that initially the incident had not seemed too bad.

"I didn't think it was so bad at first, but I realised the next day that I was in quite a lot of pain," he said. "I didn't go to hospital initially, but then I realised I probably should and that's where I found out I had cracked a shoulder blade."

Antonio Pizzonia will be taking Heidfeld's place at this weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix, but the team have yet to make a decision about what they plan to do for the final races of the season.

If Heidfeld is fit then there are no doubts he will be brought back into action, while Pizzonia will likely remain if Heidfeld is not fit and he has put in a good performance in Brazil.

However, should Pizzonia have not shone at Interlagos then the team could take a gamble on test driver Nico Rosberg for the final two races of the year.