Massa upbeat after return to F1 testing
FERRARI’S Felipe Massa yesterday took the wheel of a Formula One car for the first time since his horror smash but admits his competitive return will have to wait until next season.
The Brazilian reached another milestone in his recuperation from July’s life-threatening accident in Hungary, which fractured his skull and rendered him comatose, by taking part in an informal test session in Italy.
Massa, 28, completed several laps of the Fiorano circuit in a two-year-old Ferrari F2007 fitted with GP2 tyres, and immediately declared that he felt as good as he did before his crash.
“When I was inside the car it was as if nothing had happened: I’m the same bastard as before,” said Massa.
“Everything went well, I felt very good physically, it felt like the crash from 25 July had never occurred. I haven’t had any eyesight problem and today I’d be ready to do not just one, but two races in a row.
“Obviously we need to respect the doctors’ limitation as a precaution, but after getting in the car, I can say I’m back to what I was before the crash.”
Massa had held out faint hope of returning to racing for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on 1 November.
But with stringent medical checks still to be carried out and no title challenge at stake, Ferrari have said he will not risk racing before 2010.
“We can start preparing for next year, which won’t be an easy year because this one has been hard, and work to have a good car and fight for the championship,” Massa added.
Ferrari said in a statement on Sunday night: “Talk of a proper return to Formula One can wait until 2010 and only then will the required medical checks be carried out.”
Massa’s crash came in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix, when a spring hit his helmet at 160mph.