Ferrari’s Felipe Massa is to travel to the United States on Friday, where he is likely to have more examinations as he continues his recovery from his Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying crash. Massa will meet with Dr Steve Olvey, medical director of the US-based CART series, in Miami.
Massa suffered fractures to his skull last month after being hit by a spring that had come loose from the car of fellow Brazilian Rubens Barrichello. He underwent emergency surgery in Budapest and spent several days in an artificial coma before being flown home to Sao Paolo to recuperate.
“I will probably undergo further exams at the hospital in Miami,” Massa confirmed to Ferrari’s official website, after watching Kimi Raikkonen secure the team’s third successive podium in Sunday’s European Grand Prix at Valencia.
Though Ferrari did not win, Massa was thrilled to see Brawn driver Barrichello back on top of the podium after almost five years away, and following the race was straight on the phone to his friend and compatriot, who carried a best wishes message to Massa on his helmet.
“My first attempt (to call) failed because he was debriefing with his Brawn GP people,” explained Massa. “But later I could manage to talk to him and congratulated him for his fantastic victory. Of course, I also thanked him for everything he’s done and said about me during the whole weekend. In fact, I felt very emotional when I saw his helmet with a design intended to homage me.”
Massa watched the Grand Prix sat on his bed at home, along with wife Raffaela, and also provided comments via SMS for Brazilian television. “I followed the race also by my notebook, taking a close look at the live timing,” he added. “The last time a saw a Formula One race on TV was the Japanese GP back in 2003. It was the race that closed the calendar and I did not travel to Japan because I was Ferrari test driver at that time.”
No date has been set for Massa’s return to Formula One competition and his place will again be taken by Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer in this coming weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.
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