Heinz-Harald Frentzen was being rushed to hospital in Vienna last night after finishing fifth in the Hungarian Grand Prix despite three day's exhausting illness.

He was taken by helicopter from the Hungaroring circuit four hours after the race to Budapest airport where his private jet was being readied to fly him to Vienna. "We want him in hospital tonight, to see exactly what the problem is and have him somewhere he can start to recover as quickly as possible," Frenzten's spokesman said.

Frentzen, looking extremely pale, walked to the ambulance which took him to the circuit's heliport.

Frentzen started suffering diarrhoea, vomiting and shivering spasms on Friday evening. He ate virtually nothing from then until yesterday's race, having intravenous drips to try to maintain his strength.