Budapest return for Ferrari’s Felipe Massa
Ferrari driver Felipe Massa will return to the scene where he suffered a horrific accident last season this weekend for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Taking part in the second qualifying session, Massa was struck on his helmet by a spring which fell off the car of Rubens Barrichello a few seconds ahead of him on the track. He was airlifted, unconscious, to hospital where he underwent surgery and had a metal plate inserted into his fractured skull.
The German Grand Prix last Sunday marked the exact day of the accident, but when Massa takes to the Hungaroring track tomorrow for the practice sessions, that will mark the real occasion for him.
“Going back to Budapest will be a very special weekend for me, for reasons which you can all appreciate as it was there, just over a year ago, that I was seriously injured,” said the Brazilian.
The 29-year-old has made it his top priority to meet with the people who helped him last year when he headed straight into the tyre barrier. “My first meeting when I arrive at the Hungaroring circuit will be with all the marshals and medical staff who did such a very good job of carefully getting me out of the cockpit. I want to thank these people, with whom I now feel a special bond,” he said.
Massa was unable to compete for the rest of the 2009 campaign and was itching to get back into his car for this season. However, he has endured a difficult time thus far, which many believe could be down to the effects of the accident. Massa insists he is fighting fit, but admits he has changed off the track.
“Quite often this year, at press conferences at the track, journalists ask me if I feel I am back to normal and if I am driving as well as before and my answer is always the same: yes, in terms of my work, absolutely nothing has changed. But as a person, the accident did change me, it made me value life much more than before and I appreciate the ordinary things in life ten times more and it has put life and my health in perspective, not taking anything for granted and not just for me, but also for life in general and what it means to everyone,” said Massa.
Massa will have a point to prove this weekend as he could have marked the exact day of the accident at the German Grand Prix with a well-deserved race victory. However, he was ordered by Ferrari in a coded radio message to make way for Fernando Alonso to win the race.
Ferrari were fined $100,000 and face further sanctions for implementing team orders, which are banned in Formula One.
Massa has said he would walk away from Formula One if he was ever considered to be a No.2 driver. “The time I say I am a number two driver I will not race any more, and I am not [a number two]. I will fight for the victory here, whatever the conditions.”
Being on the top step of the podium on Sunday afternoon could be the perfect tonic for Massa.
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