Despite his crash during practice yesterday (Saturday) morning, Jordan Ford driver, Ralph Firman returned to the Hungarian circuit to show the team his support ahead of the race this afternoon. FIA Medical Delegate Professor Sid Watkins advised the team that Firman would be unable to participate in any further sessions over the weekend.

Jordan Ford was granted permission to substitute Zsolt Baumgartner as the driver of car 12 in time for warm-up and final qualifying, making Baumgartner the first Hungarian driver to participate in a Formula One World Championship race.

Firman arrived on crutches and was on good form even taking the time to pass on his best wishes to his replacement for the race. Hungarian Formula 3000 driver Baumgartner received his mandatory superlicense yesterday morning just in time for Saturday qualifying. Ralph commented “Good luck to him, he has a very tough job in his hands, it’s a very physically hard race and one that I would very much like to be participating in.”

Due to the fortunately minor nature of his injuries, Firman plans to be back in his car for testing at Monza prior to the Italian Grand Prix. He suffered a minor concussion during the incident and is now experiencing a small amount of pain in his knee and neck. Firman added “I’m very disappointed not to be racing this weekend, things were looking very good after Friday and I was confident of a good result.”