Six hours at the simulator for Massa

Yesterday was a busy day for Felipe Massa, who arrived in Italy on Monday to proceed with his recovery programme after his accident in Budapest. After a couple of days in the kart last week in Granja Viana (Brazil), today he made a further step ahead getting back behind the wheel, although the wheel was the one of a simulator.

Felipe spent around six hours in Modena, mainly dedicating himself to regaining confidence with the commands of a single-seater. “We worked very well, without any problems, Massa said at the end of the day. “The simulator uses a A1GP single-seater, so it’s not exactly like Formula 1, but pretty close. I drove on the track in Barcelona to avoid creating an even bigger test atmosphere.”

Later on Felipe came back to Maranello: first he went to the gym and then to the computer, answering questions of the numerous fans, who sent their emails and wrote in the forum of Ferrari’s website. “I miss Formula 1 a lot: it’s my passion more than my job. It was hard to stay in front of the TV and watching the team, also because I had to get up very early because of the different time-zones,” Felipe answered jokingly to ‘maranellolover’.

“I’ve been always in contact with Domenicali and with the boy to keep me updated about what was happening on the track and at home as far as the next year is concerned.” ‘Misa-schumimaniac’ asked Felipe if he noticed any difference to the past driving a kart and today with the simulator. “No difference at all. I had lots of fun in Granja Viana and today’s work was more than anything else a way to get back in contact with a car. Obviously I can’t wait to get back behind the wheel of a real single-seater.”

This week’s programme will continue tomorrow with another day at the simulator. On Thursday Felipe will take part in an event dedicated exclusively to the fans in the www.ferrari.com community, who can chat with him. Then the further programme will be decided, but there won’t be a test with a Formula 1 car this week.