RawAutos was one of the first to report on Felipe Massa’s horrible crash at Hungary just last weekend. Well, through the week we had reports that he would never drive again, a report that Michael Schumacher would take over for Massa in the season’s remaining races, and now we have word that Felipe Massa is A-OK. That’s great news!
Massa’s doctor, Dino Altman, has said, “”He doesn’t seem to have a long-term injury.” He also added, “Felipe’s brain condition is improving and there is nothing to worry about.”
Funnily enough, though, when told that Lewis Hamilton had won the race, Felipe, according to his doctor, said, “I can’t believe it! It was my race.” Poor guy always seems to come runner-up to Hamilton.
This is brilliant news, following one of the scariest incidents in racing history. An incident that took the life of Henry Surtees, son of racing great John Surtees, at the start of the week that Massa had his accident. This is also the same accident that killed 3-time champion Ayrton Senna just 15 short years ago.
Michael Schumacher taking over for the recovering Massa, also a close friend of the Felipe’s, should add an interesting fire to the Ferrari line-up. It will be interesting to see if Schumacher can help lead Ferrari closer to the podium, just as Kimi Räikkönen and Felipe Massa have been pushing hard to do. We all know that Schumi, a 7-time driver champion, the winningest of them all, still has what it takes, but it is going to be fun to watch him battle back to his old glory.
Massa even joked about Schumacher taking his seat for a little while, saying, “We’ll see if I let him drive my car!”
It’s no surprise that Ferrari chose Michael to be the one to be put in the position to take over, he is after all a talent scout for Ferrari’s F1 team.
There is another report from itv.com saying that Felipe Massa will be checking out of the Budapest AEK Military Facility on Monday. Dino Altman, again, Massa’s personal doctor said, “Felipe continues to improve, he is doing very well and we already decided to go back home on Monday. He will be transported in a private jet, probably to Sao Paolo.
Doctor Altman continued by saying, “In Brazil, he will continue his recovery and will go back into racing as soon as possible. I think this decision says all you need to know [about his condition].” However, he did not specify how long the recovery process would or could take.
In the end, we continue to wish our love and support for Felipe Massa, along with his family and friends. But, thank God he’s ok. This world doesn’t need to lose another talent to mishap.
-Josh
“Happy Motoring!”
[Sources: Autoblog via itv and Eurosport
Photos taken from: Autoblog]
