FORUMula1.com

[7UpJordan]

rubarrichello (twitter) - I just came back from the hospital.Felipe went trough a cirurgy which went very well.Now he is asleep waiting for a new scan tomorrow

That's even more assuring now.

I wonder if Mr Blow-it-all-out-of-proportion has been captured yet or made to feel a prat?

[Denthúl]

The latest from the track on Massa

Felipe Massa has been operated on this evening and is now in an induced coma in the AEK Hospital in Budapest.

An inaccurate report from AP this evening suggested that his condition was life threatening but this is not the case. The operation was successful and he is likely to be woken tomorrow.

Medical estimates of how long he will be out of action vary from two months, to longer. It has been suggested by one doctor here that he may miss the rest of the season. More will be known when the medically induced coma ends and the medics can assess the amount of bruising to the front of the brain.

The 28 year old was hit in the head by a spring which had fallen from the rear suspension of Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn car. He was on a lap heading back to the pits and was four seconds behind Barrichello on the road, when the spring became detached. It bounced down the road for four seconds and hit Massa in the head. He was briefly knocked unconscious and his feet went onto the brake and throttle simultaneously.

The data says that he applied 60bar of pressure to the brake, which is the equivalent of laying his foot on it gently, while the throttle was effectively jammed on.

Ross Brawn tonight explained that the spring was from the third damper and is made of steel and weighs around a kilogramme.

“The damper is still attached but the cap had come off and the spring escaped,” said Brawn. “I don’t know the full details but it was a freak accident.”

Brawn replaced the spring on Jenson Button’s car just in case, but Brawn said that this did not affect the balance of the car for Button’s final qualifying run.

He said that he had never experienced a spring detaching itself in all his years in F1 engineering. He added that he thought that the work done on making helmets safer had been ‘essential’ in this situation.

Wow. Two months or more? Oh dear.

[ducksfan]

Now I feel quite sure that he will be alright. But where did Allen get the information from? If I should choose, I would believe the doctors, even if they are Hungarian, not a commentator. Maybe I am too skeptic, I want Felipe to get well, and have no problems, but the words of the doctors bother me, and I tend to believe them, not JA.

[Amanda]

While it's unfortunate that he may miss the rest of the season, I'm glad to hear that he's going to be okay. Thank goodness.

*Edit: oops, didn't realise it was the same source

[Frosty]

Nasty so he was only slightly breaking with the front brakes and the throttle was open?

[h-tomek]

It's not vital that he come back before the end of this season. It's important that there won't be any complications or something like that. He's a fighter, and, no doubt, he will be back soon.

[Denthúl]

Now I feel quite sure that he will be alright. But where did Allen get the information from? If I should choose, I would believe the doctors, even if they are Hungarian, not a commentator. Maybe I am too skeptic, I want Felipe to get well, and have no problems, but the words of the doctors bother me, and I tend to believe them, not JA.

James Allen is in Budapest and is likely getting his information from the Ferrari team or people close to Massa. Barrichello has also posted on Twitter that Massa should be okay, and he was there at the hospital, too. I'd say that's reliable information. Of course his condition is very serious, but those news stories appear to have blown it way out of proportion.

While it's unfortunate that he may miss the rest of the season, I'm glad to hear that he's going to be okay. Thank goodness.

Yeah. Hopefully it won't be too serious once they wake him up tomorrow and it won't be something that could threaten his career or anything.

Nasty so he was only slightly breaking with the front brakes and the throttle was open?

Pretty much. It would explain why there were tyre marks stretching so far, yet he hit the barrier at such a high speed. I'd have thought that, even having locked up, if he was on the brakes only for that distance he wouldn't have hit the barrier. So yeah...

It's not vital that he come back before the end of this season. It's important that there won't be any complications or something like that. He's a fighter, and, no doubt, he will be back soon.

Yeah. My only worry is that Massa really is a fighter and might push hard to come back before he's ready.

[EwanM]

Does anyone believe in fate or am I going slightly mad? Does anyone recall VB's thread about death a few weeks ago?



I'm sorry but if anything bad happened to Massa I would feel emotionally moved, despite having no connection with him.

[Denthúl]

Does anyone believe in fate or am I going slightly mad? Does anyone recall VB's thread about death a few weeks ago?



I'm sorry but if anything bad happened to Massa I would feel emotionally moved, despite having no connection with him.

You wouldn't be alone.

I do recall the thread, but I don't think things are linked. This was just a freak accident.

[ducksfan]

What thread??? Well I would really miss him too, but lets hope we wont have to miss him, and he will survive.

[Amanda]

I'm not sure about fate but motorsport has an awful habit of giving us eery coincidences. Maybe I just read too much into things.

[Gaz]

I'm not sure about fate but motorsport has an awful habit of giving us eery coincidences. Maybe I just read too much into things.

nah i was thinking the same thing, its very eery considering how close it Surtees death.

[Denthúl]

I'm not sure about fate but motorsport has an awful habit of giving us eery coincidences. Maybe I just read too much into things.

nah i was thinking the same thing, its very eery considering how close it Surtees death.

Indeed. For the accidents to both involve loose debris from other cars striking the driver in the head makes it even more so.

[EwanM]

Massa's doctor reporting to Brazilian media that brain scan is clear and signs are positive. Family is en route to Hungary now

James Allen.

[7UpJordan]

BBC sport now saying something similar to what James Allen said, particularly about AP blowing it out of proportion.

Hopefully the doctors could awaken Massa in time to tune into the race and watch it.

Now that it appears Massa is going to be out for a good while, who will step into the breach? Gene? Badoer? Or will Schumi make a one-off return and show us what he can still do? He won't be under any pressure either!

I wasn't Schumi's biggest fan, but I wouldn't mind seeing him return, to go up against Hamilton, Vettel and co.