Ralph Firman Q&A
Ralph Firman arrived in Italy hoping to be back in the Jordan cockpit after his accident in Hungary, but after consultation with Professor Sid Watkins he will be on the sidelines once again for the duration of the weekend. The Brit will thus miss a second race in succession as Zsolt Baumgartner has a another run in his car. Ralph does however hope to be fit and ready for the final two races of the season in the USA and Japan. Adam Cooper spoke to Firman at Monza.
"I was hoping I would be able to drive, but you have to tell Sid Watkins how you're feeling, and it's up to him to decide what to do. It was a big accident, and it's obviously taken longer than I thought to recover. I'm just disappointed that I'm not racing."
"It's like vertigo. It's only when I lie down. Standing up normally I don't feel anything, and I've been driving road cars and doing my normal training. So I'm still absolutely fine. It's just one of those small side effect that will take time to go away, but Sid says that I will definitely by 100 percent by the next race."
"I think there's that as well. Also if I was to injure another driver by not telling Sid the truth then it would have been a difficult to explain if I was feeling a bit dizzy."
"They were just a precaution, but they got discarded about a day later."
"I remember bouncing on the gravel. I had no idea why I went off - I thought the engine had gone or something, and maybe thrown oil over the rear tyres, because the car snapped so violently. I've never felt that before, and it's the first time I've ever had a rear wing fall off."
"It went a bit quicker, but other times in the past I've also gone a bit quicker just before the engine blows up! I was sixth and it jumped into seventh, I think. I went off at 305kph. Next time the car speeds up suddenly I'll be looking in the rear view mirror..."
"I remember a few 10 second snatches of things that happened between the accident and getting back to the medical centre. But basically, nothing! I've watched the video and I was walking after getting out of the car, and taking my own helmet off. Sid said I had a conversation with him, but it didn't register."
"Yes. It was a massive accident. The medical staff did a good job, and also the work the FIA does has been incredible, that someone can walk away from something like that now, especially the structure around the cockpit. I've just got to get back in the car and make the most of these last two races. The season's gone quickly!"
"Suzuka is going to be great. It's a fantastic place, and I won the Nippon championship there last year. So it's good memories."
"Hopefully... if there's rain it'll be great. It's the only place I know really well this year, and it's going to be disappointing that it's the last race, but on the other hand I can really prove what I can do. I think I'm going to have a cracking weekend."
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