Massa Taken off Respirator and Talking! 
Massa taken off respirator
- Ferrari ace likely to miss rest of season
Rubens Barrichello arrives to visit Massa on Sunday
Budapest: Injured Formula One driver Felipe Massa has been brought out of an artificial coma, taken off a respirator and has been able to communicate with his doctors and family representatives, his doctors said on Monday.
“His condition has improved significantly over the past 24 hours and he remains stable,” Lajos Zsiros, the chief surgeon told a news conference. “We have ended sedation and took him off the respirator.
“He’s sleepy but has been able to reply to questions and has been able to move his limbs adequately.”
Brazilian Massa fractured his skull in an accident during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix on Saturday when he was hit just above his left eye by a bouncing spring, weighing almost a kilo, that broke free from compatriot Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn car.
Doctors said Massa, last year’s championship runner-up, may have also suffered an eye injury but could not yet tell the extent of any possible damage.
Dino Altmann, Massa’s personal physician, said the Brazilian’s condition was reassuring.
“He’s awake, he has been answering questions, he has been asking what has happened to him,” Altmann said on the sidelines of the news conference.
Altmann said the Massa family is happy with the care the injured driver was receiving at the military hospital AEK and moving him was not currently on the agenda.
Robert Veres, the surgeon who operated on Massa, said earlier on Monday that it was too early to tell how quickly Massa could recover but he was likely to miss the rest of the season.
Zsiros also declined to predict Massa’s recovery but said that in theory, a man could fully recover after such an accident.
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo, who flew to Budapest on Monday to visit Massa, said his main concern for the time being was Massa’s recovery and the team would consider his possible replacement later.
“For us, the first priority is to find out Felipe’s recovery progress and situation,” Di Montezemolo told a joint news conference with Massa’s doctors. “Felipe is a very important member of the Ferrari family not just the Ferrari team.
“The first priority now is to find out the situation with Felipe and then we will see and we will think, without pressure. Only at that moment will we make a decision and if we have to take a decision we will make a good decision,” Di Montezemolo said.
Manwhile, Max Mosley, president of motor racing’s governing body, on Monday asked its safety commission to prepare a report on the recent debris-related accidents in the Formula One and Two world championships.
The International Automobile Federation (FIA) safety commission, which is made up of medical and technical representatives from all areas of motor sport, will submit its report and recommendations to the World Motor Sport Council, the FIA said in a statement.
Monday’s FIA statement said: “Preliminary findings suggest the helmet being used by Felipe Massa may have played a significant role in limiting the injuries sustained.
“The FIA 8860 helmet, which took eight years to develop by the FIA and FIA Institute, provides increased protection in all key impact areas.”
Massa’s accident came a week after Henry Surtees, son of former Formula One world champion John, was killed when hit by a loose wheel during a Formula Two race at Brands Hatch in England. (Reuters)
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