Massa rules out 09 return
The recovering Brazilian flies to Paris on Friday to be checked by FIA doctors, ahead of his expected test in a two-year-old Ferrari single seater early next week.
He will be at his home race at Interlagos next weekend only to wave the checkered flag, but holds out faint hopes that he might be in a position to fast-track his return from injury ahead of his new pairing with Fernando Alonso in 2010.
"I hope that I'll be back soon, but I also know that the best thing is that I'm coming back 100 per cent at the start of the next season," Massa, 28, told one of his fans via the official Ferrari website.
"My dream would be to race in Abu Dhabi, but the possibility is really, really low," he added, but he also tellingly revealed that one of three tracks he has driven in simulators this week was the new Yas Marina layout.
10/08/09 More than 3,000 questions were posted in a chat with Ferrari driver Felipe Massa on the team’s official website on Thursday, messages to greet the Brazilian driver with questions coming from Italy (around 32%) and numerous fans from the UK, France, Spain, Russia and even from Brazil, although it was early in the morning when Felipe was online.
One of the hottest topics of the session was whether or not Felipe would be returning to the race track in either one of the two remaining races, his home event in Brazil next weekend or the season finale at Abu Dhabi in three weeks time. While Felipe admitted that he would love to back in action this season, he knows the best course of action is to wait for next year.
“I hope that I’ll be back soon, but I also know that the best thing is that I’m coming back 100% at the start of the next season. My dream would be to race in Abu Dhabi, but the possibility is really, really low…," he said in the chat.
However, while he won’t be racing in front of his home crown at the Interlagos circuit this year, Felipe will still be present and undertaking a very important role, that of being in charge of the checkered flag on race day for the end of the Grand Prix.
“It’s true. I can confirm it. It will be a great honor for me."
Meanwhile the Brazilian driver had fun driving on his home track on the simulator…
“I spent two very intense and interesting days driving in Barcelona and then in Interlagos and Abu Dhabi. Tomorrow I’ll go to Paris for some medical check ups at the FIA and on Monday, if the weather is fine, I should finally be behind the wheel of a Formula 1 single-seater. I hope that I can do many miles and do well, not only in terms of performance but also as far as constant lap times are concerned. I’m confident and I think that there won’t be any problems. It’s true that a Formula 1 vibrates a lot and there is lots of physical stress, but I’m used to it."