Team XTR – Motorsport & Track Days

Brawn running well. McLaren looking good, despite a spin for Lewis Hamilton which broke the brand new nose. Ferrari missing Massa/Schumacher. Alonso fastest. At least the spaniards are happy!

Renault were allowed to race after a successful appeal to the FIA lat week. Instead of the ban they had been imposed with, they got away with a €50,000 fine. Pocket money!

In the pitlane…. Despite setting the slowest times in both session stand-in Ferrari driver Luca Badoer amasses €5,400 in fines for speeding. Welcome back Luca.

Boooo Hisss…… Sad news.

Today we received an email from Felipe Massa’s family. We continue to wish him all the best in his recovery.

Dear friends,

On behalf of Felipe we want to thank you all for the numerous messages of
support we received from all over the world over the last days. To feel your
support in this difficult moment gives us lots of strength.

We thank you from the deepest of our hearts.

Raffaela, Luiz Antonio, Ana Elena, Eduardo, Fernanda, Nicolas.

7-time World Champion Michael Schumacher will be replacing Felipe Massa for the forthcoming races. He will drive alongside fellow World Champion Kimi Raikkonen.

Can’t wait for Valencia now!

Schumacher is not ruling out a return to F1 to stand in for Massa.

The gossip was bound to happen and only Schuie himself will know how much truth there is to the rumours. However, it would spice thing up a little though  and could be interesting.  If we can’t have Massa back just yet then Schumacher would be my choice thats for sure !

(Wouldn’t of heard me say that a few years ago when he was fighting Alonso for the title !)

The decision comes after a press confernce was held at the German HQ in Munich where they announced they will be dedicating more resources to developing new sustainable technologies for road cars.

It is hopeful that Massa should be well enough to leave hospital in the next ten days or so.

Massa’s personal doctor, Dino Altman, said  “His condition is improving quickly and constantly. He is more and more awake and reactive. He spoke to several people today, using three different languages, replying always in a coherent way. He’s also progressing with his physiotherapy very well. He opened his left eye and confirmed that he can see with it. As far as the near future is concerned we have to be cautious, but I have to say that also today there are very positive signs.”

Hope the good news keeps coming, got everything crossed for you Massa !

Felipe Massa’s condition is continuing to improve as doctors at the AEK Hospital in Hungary, where the Brazilian driver is being treated, denied earlier reports of eye damage and instead suggested he could make a full recovery.

Colonel Dr. Lajos Zsiros, the chief surgeon of the Hungarian Defence Forces, told a news conference on Monday that the 28-year-old had been woken from sedation on Monday afternoon, and was unlikely to be sedated again.

“In the last 24 hours some major changes have gone through in the condition of Felipe Massa,” said Zsiros. “His condition continues to be stable.

“During the CT-scan we performed we could ascertain that there was an improvement in his condition. We stopped sedation and after that Felipe Massa became capable of making contact.”

“So in the afternoon we stopped the artificial ventilation of Felipe. As we speak he is sleepy, but he gives adequate answers to the questions we ask him, and he can move his arms and legs spontaneously.”

“Right now he has no fever, and we have removed the drain tube from his wound. Further improvement of his condition can be expected. During the night we do not plan to do any more interventions on him.”

Zsiros denied the earlier reports that Massa had injured his left eye, which led to speculation about his future participation in Formula 1.

Peter Bazso, the hospital’s medical director, explained that it was in fact too early to tell if there was any damage because Massa was still unable to open the eye: “We can give no positive neither negative answer to this, because at this stage the vision cannot be examined.”

Bazso made it clear however that a full recovery was still entirely possible for the Brazilian.

“There is no such thing as ‘this condition’, because every case is different,” he pointed out. “Of course it isn’t impossible.”

When asked when they will be able to determine if Massa has suffered any kind of lasting injury, Zsiros said: “There is no interval which we can define, but I would say it should be from one week to ten days.”

He added that Massa would remain in intensive care as long as his condition made that necessary.

Dino Altmann, the Chief Medical Officer of the Brazilian Grand Prix, who also attended the news conference, confirmed Massa was now able to speak.

“He spoke, he wanted to know what happened to him. And he had some questions,” Altmann revealed. “I would like to say that the family is very happy with the treatment Felipe is receiving here, and there’s no question about transfer at the moment.”

Altmann said they haven’t asked Massa yet if he was able to remember the accident. He also explained that the operation on Saturday, which doctors described as “life-saving”, was performed because of the skull damage, not because of brain swelling.

A spokesman for the AEK hospital confirmed Massa’s family were already in Budapest, and a room was made available for them so they could stay with him at all times.

Lewis Hamilton took an amazing win at Hungary with a much improved McLaren Mercedes. Fernando Alonso led the pack away and after the first corner it looked as if Lewis had pulled ahead of Australian Mark Webber but it wasn’t to be.

Keeping pace with the Red Bull Hamilton made his move on lap 5 and set about hunting Alonso. A disasterous pit stop for Alonso left him on 3 wheels (and suspended from the next race in Valancia) and was forced to retire – leaving Hamilton to press home his advantage.

The McLaren looked a totally different car than the one he turned up to Silverstone just a month ago. Looking after its tyres the whole race no one threatened Lewis who took a safe victory ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in second and Mark Webber in third – passing team mate Seb Vettell in the drivers’ standings.