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Formula One
F1: Massa Looking Forward To Hungary Return
Felipe Massa is ready to race at Budapest, site of his vicious crash just over a year ago...
Adam Cooper  | http://www.speedtv.com  |  Posted July 27, 2010   Balen (BEL)
Felipe Massa plans to meet the Hungarian medical staff and marshals who helped him after last year’s wreck at Budapest. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Felipe Massa says he is going to meet the Hungarian medical staff and marshals who helped him after last year’s accident, when he returns to Budapest this week.

The German GP race day was the first anniversary of the accident which could have ended the Brazilian’s career or even cost him his life. Massa expressed his feelings in a column on the Ferrari website.

“Going back to Budapest will be a very special weekend for me, for reasons which you can all appreciate,” he said. “It was there, just over a year ago, that I was seriously injured when a spring from another car hit me on the head during Q2 on Saturday afternoon.

“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. I had to stay in (the) hospital for a week after the accident and I got to know the staff, who all treated me so well, and one unusual result of the whole unfortunate episode is that I know I now have a lot more fans in Hungary.

“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 10 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.

“I know what it means now and I feel I am much more mature as a human being. However, on the professional front, nothing has changed, because once you shut the visor and go out on the race track, you just do everything as before, without thinking of the accident.”
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Massa steered clear of the team orders controversy: “In Germany, we produced a great team result and if people were asking why Ferrari kept saying for several weeks before that the F10 had improved a lot, they got the answer in Hockenheim.

“But that does not mean we are sitting on our hands, because there will be even more updates coming this weekend and the result last weekend is motivation for everyone in the team to keep pushing even harder to keep the momentum going, improving race by race. There are other reasons to be optimistic about this weekend, including the fact that Bridgestone is bringing its super-soft and medium tires that have always suited the F10 very well, so maybe we can have another very competitive race.

“Throughout the year, we have seen that various teams’ performance has been very much related to the track characteristics, with the exception of Red Bull, who have been competitive everywhere. So let’s wait and see how we go at the Hungaroring.

“Personally, I have never had a good result at this circuit, but that has simply been down to circumstances, as I do enjoy driving here a lot and, in 2008 for example, the last time I actually raced there, I led for 60 laps until my engine failed. So all in all, there are many reasons why I am really looking forward to going back to Budapest in a couple of days’ time.”

Adam Cooper notched up his 25th season as a racing journalist in 2009. Born in London, England, he saw his first F1 race at age 10 in 1976. He began freelancing for Autosport magazine in 1985 and was on the fulltime staff from 1987-92. He then went freelance again, initially spending two years in Japan before following the 1994 Champcar series from a base in Indianapolis. He has not missed a Grand Prix since Suzuka ‘94, a run that has extended to Abu Dhabi ’09. Adam has written books about Eddie Irvine, Piers Courage and Michael Schumacher and hosts a race preview show on Sirius XM. He has written about F1 for SPEEDtv.com since 2005. Check out Adam's Blog or follow him on Twitter

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