INDIANAPOLIS – Swiss driver Simona De Silvestro burned both hands in a crash during Indy 500 practice Thursday, threatening her participation in qualifying Saturday and Sunday.
HVM Racing owner Keith Wiggins said there's an outside chance the team would bring in another driver to get De Silvestro's backup car qualified, then bring her back to start the May 29 race at the back of the field.
"That's something we're evaluating, but I think we're going to stick with Simona and hopefully try to get her back up to speed," he said.
The 22-year-old De Silvestro has second-degree burns on her right hand and superficial burns on her left, track officials said. She was able to walk to a vehicle that took her to the track's medical center, then was transported to a hospital. De Silvestro later tweeted a photo of her bandaged hands from outside the hospital.
"Thank you for all the well wishes. Trying to get rid of the Mickey Mouse gloves as soon as possible," she wrote.
De Silvestro lost control of her car and it slammed into a wall, went airborne and flipped several times before coming to a rest upside down and in flames. Smoke continued to billow from the severely damaged car as her crew turned it right side up so it could be towed off the track.
"The car is completely destroyed," Wiggins said. "That was our special car for here, which takes a lot of effort. We've got to get that sorted out, and obviously, she's got to get her confidence back up as well."
De Silvestro has experience driving the backup.
"She ran it here on Saturday in testing," Wiggins said. "She's used to it, but the other one is better. There's a lot of special bits and a lot of attention that goes into one car, particularly for this event."
De Silvestro is 11th in the IndyCar standings, with a season-best fourth-place finish at St. Petersburg. Her prospects at Indianapolis don't look as good.
"We've got our work cut out, but we'll get on with it," Wiggins said.
___
Online: http://twitter.com/simdesilvestro
___
Cliff Brunt can be reached at http://twitter.com/cliffbruntap.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.