Jenson Button withdrew from the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday after spending the night in hospital following his crash during Saturday’s free practice.
Jenson Button withdrew from the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday after spending the night in hospital following his crash during Saturday’s free practice.
The BAR driver’s car hit the metal barriers on the right hand side of the circuit and rebounded on to the guard rail on the left before hitting the safety barrier at the harbour-front chicane. He was taken to hospital afterwards.
“We’ve had advice from the hospital and we’ve had long discussions with [F1 medical expert] Sid Watkins and no one was very comfortable with the situation,” said BAR boss David Richards.
“Jenson had a concussion so it would have been unwise to expose him to another possible concussion,” said the FIA medical chief Professor Sid Watkins. “I told him it was safer and wiser to not to do it and he, very gentlemanly, accepted my advice.”
Button said he had lost consciousness after the crash. “I blacked out for a while and the crash was quite frightening,” said Button. “But if I’m not fit to drive, then I’m not good enough to drive. I want to race obviously but if the circumstances aren’t right you’re not going to but I will be 100 per cent right for the next race in Canada. I would rather not be in the pits today, I would rather be racing.”
“He’ll be testing in Monza this week, he’ll be [racing] in Canada in two weeks time. “He has got a long career ahead of him and we don’t need to squander it in one afternoon in Monaco,” said Richards.