THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BUDAPEST, Hungary — Ferrari’s Felipe Massa says he is preparing for a "very special weekend" when he returns to the Hungarian Grand Prix and a circuit where he nearly lost his life last year.
Last July, Massa’s Ferrari hit a protective barrier after his helmet was struck by a loose part that broke off Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn GP car during qualifying. He was hospitalized for nine days in Hungary, placed in an induced coma with multiple skull fractures and later had plastic surgery on his cranium in Brazil.
"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," Massa said in his blog on the Ferrari website. "I want to thank these people, with whom I now feel a special bond."
While the accident had made him "much more mature as a human being," Massa said that as a driver he was the same as ever.
"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," he said.
On a very different level, Massa will also be looking to turn the page on events at last weekend’s German Grand Prix at Hockenheim when he appeared to allow teammate Fernando Alonso to pass him and win the race.
Controversially, the switch came after Massa was told by Ferrari on the radio that "Fernando is faster than you, did you understand that message?"
At the time, Alonso had 98 points and Massa just 67 in the drivers’ standings. Now Alonso has 123 points in fifth place and is back in the title race, while the Brazilian is eighth with 85 points.
Ferrari was fined US$100,000 for breaking the ban on team orders which effect the result of a race and while the order of finish was not changed, stewards sent the case to FIA’s council for further consideration.
Massa downplayed the incident, saying at the time he was not "completely happy" with second place but denied being forced to give up the lead.
Despite the fine and the possibility of further penalties, Ferrari chief Luca Di Montezemolo expressed his support for the team.
"With all the comments made recently, most of them misguided, there is only clear and concrete truth — Ferrari is strong and winning again," Di Montezemolo said on the Ferrari website.
Meanwhile, Sunday’s race will provide a chance for world championship leader Lewis Hamilton to win it for the third time in four years.
"I love racing in Hungary. The circuit is quite a unique place — it’s got a reputation for being a slow track where it’s impossible to pass, but I don’t really agree with that," Hamilton said. "Like Monaco, there’s nowhere to relax and because one corner always leads straight into the next, you’re really hustling the car the whole way. Which, when you’ve got a good car, is good fun."
Hamilton’s McLaren has performed well in 2010, allowing the British driver to record two wins and four top-five finishes in the last six races.
He leads the standings on 157 points, with teammate Jenson Button second on 143 points. The two Red Bull drivers, Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, each have 136 points.
The relationship between Hamilton and Button, the defending world champion, has been smoother than predicted and certainly more harmonious than between drivers on the other top teams.
Ferrari’s issues at Hockenheim came after Vettel and Webber collided at the Turkish Grand Prix and also had difficulties at the British GP, when Webber pushed Vettel wide on the opening lap and went on to win his third race of the season.
The Australian driver’s success came despite having to compete with an old version of the car’s front wing — while the new design was stripped off his Red Bull and given to Vettel.
The Hungaroring will be hosting its 25th Formula One race on Sunday, having been included on the circuit’s calendar for the first time in 1986, when Hungary was still behind the Iron Curtain and under communist rule.