Formula One Features — July 1997

Olivier Panis's broken legs are likely to be fixed within a couple of months and he should be racing again before the end of the season. Olivier is now at the Centre Reeducation et de Readaptation Sportive in the seaside resort of Treboul-Douarnenez, near Quimper in the Brittany region of north-western France. Dr Gilles Sauleau reckons that it will be at least at least the end of July before Panis can walk although he is already working in the swimming pool to ensure that he maintains the necessary muscle in his legs and keeps up his pre-accident levels of cardio-vascular fitness. If all this is successful Panis could be racing again in mid-September.

Frank Williams went to Hockenheim in the Williams team's company helicopter. Commercial flights are very difficult because of his paralysis - the result of a road accident in March 1986 - and normally Frank would have flown to Germany in the Williams company jet but that has been sold and Williams Grand Prix Engineering is looking for another one.

The really quick guys in Formula 1 never take long to be competitive. Jarno Trulli had to do only one race this year before he started to outqualify his Minardi team mate Ukyo Katayama - a veteran of 80 Grands Prix. The really quick guys in Formula 1 never take long to be competitive. Jarno Trulli had to do only one race this year before he started to outqualify his Minardi team mate Ukyo Katayama - a veteran of 80 Grands Prix.