Olivier Panis yesterday revealed that fear that a crash would end his career wrecked his Formula One season with Prost in 1998.

Speaking at the launch of the team's 1999 car, the driver told how he had driven last season with metal plates in his legs after breaking both at the Canadian Grand Prix. "I'm 100 per cent fit now. It has lifted a cloud that was in my head throughout last year."

Meanwhile, the FIA yesterday announced that the Argentine GP has been scrapped from the 1999 calendar.