Jordan Urge Caution with Monaco Walls

Jordan are keeping their fingers crossed that accident-prone Formula One rookie Takuma Sato can steer clear of Monaco's unforgiving walls and crash barriers this weekend.

The Japanese, through no fault of his own, was involved in a huge collision in the last Grand Prix in Austria eight days ago when Nick Heidfeld's out of control Sauber careered backwards into his yellow Jordan at speed.

The car was destroyed and Jordan travel to the tight and twisty street circuit for Sunday's race with only one spare for Sato and Italian Giancarlo Fisichella to share.

Sato, who has had several crashes this season including an embarrassing collision with his teammate, has never driven a modern Formula One car in the tiny Mediterranean principality.

He drove a classic 1968 Lotus 49B, once used by the late champion Graham Hill, there at the weekend in qualifying for the Historic Monaco Grand Prix - and hit a wall at the swimming pool complex.

"It was very, very slippery where it occurred," Sato said. "I was really enjoying it and the power was okay but there was just so much oil and I was perhaps carrying too much speed into the corner."

The damage prevented Sato, who had hoped to use the historic race to familiarise himself with the circuit, from starting the race due to a lack of spare parts.

"It's such a shame but whenever I race I drive hard and want to do well," said Sato. "The only way to learn a circuit is to drive to the maximum."

But Jordan race director Gary Anderson has urged his drivers to take care.

"Giancarlo knows Monaco very well but it will be a whole new experience for Takuma, driving a Formula One car there for the first time," he said in a team preview of the race. "It's promising that he did a good job and exercised control in winning the Formula Three event last year at Macau, a street circuit with similar constraints to Monaco.

"Any lost time will be a blow, so if we have any problems or damage to the car it's more trouble than usual. Qualifying is everything at Monaco and we can only take three cars since Takuma's car was damaged beyond repair in Austria.

"The pressure is to conserve what we have, so the drivers need to respect the barriers and stay clean and tidy with their driving," said Anderson.

Sato, who has yet to score a point in Formula One, said he would be fine for Sunday's race although his knee was still a little sore after Austria.

"I have put the Austrian accident behind me now and it will not affect my performance in Monaco at all," he said.