Barrichello: Massa shouldn't rush return

Barrichello said he was encouraged by the medical progress that Massa has made since he fractured his skull in an accident during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

However, the Brawn GP veteran thinks that Massa should not rush to get himself back into action before he is totally ready.

Massa's condition means he still cannot train, and it is understood that following an eye examination in the next few days the Brazilian will shortly undergo a CT scan to provide a clearer picture of how well his recovery is progressing.

More knowledge will also be forthcoming following a future trip to Miami to visit a neurology specialist.

Barrichello said: "From a friend's point of view, he is ready to race. He has some stitches on his head, but he is ready to race. But from a medical point of view I think he has to stay calm and wait for that answer.

"With all the X-rays that he showed me, there is some good recovery to make. He cannot exercise still, so it will take a little while before he can do that. Then I am sure he will drive a go-kart before he comes back to F1, and I am not so sure there is enough time for him to do that.

"I hope he is back in Brazil, but I would not hurry up to get back. He has a safe place at Ferrari, and in the same way I wanted to see him as the same Felipe, I want to see the same Felipe driving when he comes back."

Speaking about how he found Massa, Barrichello explained: "Felipe is well, he is the same man. I was worried that I would get there and not see Felipe in the same way. For me he was exactly the same.

"There was a common friend of ours in the house, we were talking about things and I asked, 'before Budapest, what race were we at?' And Felipe answered 'Germany!' So his memory is really well.

"I don't remember my accident from 1994, so he doesn't remember his of course. And that is actually a better thing because at the end of the day you don't want to remember that."

Barrichello also admitted that the first conversation he had with Massa after the accident was quite emotional for him.

"I was in Orlando at one of the parks. My phone rang and I missed the call. It said: 'Massinha', Little Massa. I thought maybe it was his brother, but I called the number back and he answered.

"So for me it was kind of emotional. Not because I have ever felt I needed to do something for him because the spring jumped out of my car - as for that you are not going to talk to me, you will talk to Ross or somebody else.

"I never felt sorry for myself that that thing hit him, but I felt sorry that I had a friend like that. In the days that I spent at the hospital, someone went inside and came back with an answer; then someone else went inside and came back with an answer. So you never knew what was the real truth. So I was apprehensive and I felt so good when he called me, and it was such a relief.

"That was emotional I can tell you. My kids were all there playing, but I left them for 20 minutes and had to come back after - as for me it was a good relief. I felt good after that."