Button to sit out Canada? Sato on standby.

Sato on standby
By Phil Huff (10/06/2003)
June 10 2003

Lucky Strike BAR Honda driver Jenson Button, who suffered a massive accident at Monaco a little over a week ago, still hasn't been cleared to race at Montreal on Sunday.

Jenson must wait to be examined by the FIA's medical delegate Professor Sid Watkins before he'll be allowed in a car, and that won't happen until Thursday morning.

"There was still some interruption to his memory when I saw him on the Tuesday after Monaco," said Professor Watkins to The Guardian newspaper. "We are mindful of the consequences of what we call the 'second-impact' syndrome, where a driver suffers a second concussion a short time after the first impact."

There have been calls from some quarters for our man from Frome to sit out the Canadian Grand Prix, most notably from neurosurgeon Peter Hamlyn.

Speaking to the Sunday Telegraph, Hamlyn says "If you give him a lethal machine and he's not firing on all cylinders then he could do himself or someone else some serious trouble.

"There are two concerns when a sports person suffers a head injury. The first is that he may be susceptible to other injury such as blood clots, second impact syndrome or more brain damage and, secondly, there is a concern for other competitors."

It's understood that BAR's third driver, Takuma Sato, will be attending the Canadian Grand Prix, and may get his first F1 race action since Suzuka last year. Sato was most notable by his absence from Monaco.