Massa already thinking of racing again

Although he joked Massa was "looking like a boxer", Dino Altmann told journalists in front of the AEK hospital in Budapest on Thursday that the condition of the Brazilian driver, who suffered a serious accident during the qualifying session of the Hungarian Grand Prix was still getting better all the time.

"Felipe continues to improve. He is eating, he was walking around the room, he took a shower in the morning, like a normal person. So that's good news," Altmann, Chief Medical Officer of the Brazilian Grand Prix, said.

"No problem with his eyes, as I've told you before, it's okay.

"He is eating normal food. He ate chicken, today in the morning he had a normal breakfast, some yogurt with nutritional complements, bread, cheese, tomato, and he also had a banana."

Altmann said Massa didn't need any special treatments for his rehabilitation process from now on, as he only had to get stronger. He refused to give a specific timeframe for the Brazilian to go racing again, although he stressed he was "sure" Massa would eventually make it back onto the grid.

"It's the only thing he is thinking about, it's his fixed idea. He has no fears at all," Altmann said. "He thinks he would be able to race in Valencia."

Reacting to the news that seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher would take his seat in the Ferrari while he was not able to drive again, Massa reportedly joked: "We have to see if I will let him drive!"

"He was joking with his friends and his brother," Altmann revealed. "He was telling us that he heard about the Schumacher news, and he told us: 'Let's see if I let him drive the car, because I won't give up.'"

Altmann had a short conversation in front of the hospital with FIA Institute deputy president Gerard Saillant, who he said was there to attend Massa as well.

"He has some things to do in his regular job so he has to go home today. But he was here all the time", Altmann confirmed, denying earlier reports that Massa would be taken to Saillant's clinic in Paris. "No. We thought about that once, but that's it.

"The FIA medical team was always part of the process," Altmann told AUTOSPORT. "Everybody was taking all the decisions together with the physicians here in Hungary."

"There are very good physicians here, really very high standards in terms of the hospital, the physicians, all the work, all the equipment and everything."

He said Massa would be going "home" from the hospital, but whether he would be taken to Monaco or Brazil was not yet decided.

"It depends on when he will go out. There are so many things to deal with, so it's very difficult to say."

On Wednesday afternoon Massa was again visited at the hospital in Budapest by Ferrari chief Luca di Montezemolo, who flew over from Italy to see him.