Anyway, more on Massa’s condition and according to Autosport.com, the Brazilian has remained in a stable condition after a successful surgery last night.

Felipe Massa remains in a stable condition in the AEK hospital in Budapest this morning, as doctors and Ferrari were left encouraged that there had been no further complications overnight.

Massa underwent successful surgery yesterday afternoon as a result of the skull fracture and brain concussion he suffered in a crash at Turn 4 during qualifying at the Hungaroring after he was hit on the head by a spring from Rubens Barrichello’s car.

As is standard procedure for such operations, Massa was put into an induced coma and remained under observation in intensive care at the hospital.

A statement issued by Ferrari on Sunday morning said: “After undergoing an operation yesterday afternoon, Felipe Massa’s condition remains stable and there were no further complications through the night.

“He will be given another CT scan today, which will provide more precise information.”

Sources have told AUTOSPORT that the doctors at the hospital are ‘optimistic’ about Massa’s recovery, but cannot say anything for definite until the brain scans have been performed.

Until those tests have been completed, it is also too early to judge how long Massa’s recovery will take – or if he will be back in Formula 1 action this season.

Barrichello visited the AEK hospital in Budapest last night to find out news on his fellow Brazilian’s condition, while Massa’s father and other family members are flying out to Budapest to be with him, having not travelled to the race.

F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone also visited to the hospital for an update on how Massa was, and afterwards expressed his shock at the events.

“We thought we’d got through these problems,” said Ecclestone. “I’ve spoken to Sid Watkins [F1 safety expert] and he’s looking into it.”

In addition, Brawn GP team boss Ross Brawn has commented that safety is a number one priority but drastic action needs to be looked at following these incidents.

Ross Brawn thinks it vital that Formula 1 does something to ensure there is no repeat of the incidents suffered by Henry Surtees and Felipe Massa, but has warned against a knee-jerk reaction that could compromise safety further down the road.

Just one week after Surtees was killed after being struck by a wheel at Brands Hatch in a Formula 2 race, Massa suffered a fractured skull and concussion after he was hit on his helmet by a spring.

The two separate crashes have renewed calls for F1 to look again at improving cockpit safety, with suggestions that cages or canopies be fitted to minimise the chances of drivers being struck in the face.

However Brawn, from whose car the spring that hit Massa came off, believes that F1 should not move too hastily in changing things – and instead must conduct a detail examination into what will improve matters.

“We need to keep a perspective of it I guess,” said Brawn. “From what has been seen last weekend and this weekend, we need to have a proper study to see if there is a need to do something.

“You really are into the area of structures, windscreens and canopies, and anything is possible. We just need to digest what has happened, and understand it properly.”

Although canopies or a roof would help prevent drivers getting injured by flying debris, the fear of using them has been that it makes it more difficult for extraction following accidents – especially if the car has rolled over.

“I think it is time to look at the whole thing, and take a balanced approach,” Brawn said. “You can have covers, you can have canopies, but you have got to get at the drivers to extract him if there is a problem.

“So you don’t want a structure that collapses down on the driver, and there are a lot of secondary considerations. It is something we will look at I am sure.

“In the history of F1 it is a fairly rare occurrence, the [cockpit] sides are quite high now and we have the headrests around the drivers. So that is why we will have to take a balanced view.

“If there is a need to react then I am sure F1 will react very promptly, but it is making sure that we don’t do anything to make the situation worse on balance.”

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh believes that the Surtees and Massa crashes should act as a similar safety wake-up call to the events of Imola in 1994 – when Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger were killed.

“Inevitably we all become complacent if we’re not confronted with a serious accident,” he said. “Obviously ’94 was a massive wake-up call for all of us in Formula 1 at the time.

“That led to everyone, the FIA, teams, contributing to a lot of big steps forward in safety, and I think we have to go again. For everyone involved we’ve got to make sure we do everything we can.”

He added: “Motor racing is dangerous and racing drivers are incredibly brave, and that is something we should all remember. Every time a racing driver goes up the pitlane we become a bit nonchalant about it.

“Sometimes we give them a hard time if we don’t think they are pushing hard enough, but in fact they’re incredibly brave. In Formula 1 we’ve perhaps concentrated too much on politics. We’ve got to get back to the championship, the fight, the show and safety.”

Despite Massa’s injuries, Brawn did single out the advances made in helmet safety for praise – which may well have contributed to the Brazilian not suffering even more.

“Without knowing all the details, it sounds like the work done on helmets over the past few years has been essential,” he explained. “As you know, the helmets have improved quite a lot over the past few years, so the work that was done there is a great credit to the people who initiated that and pushed it through.”

I had a terrible time while watching the qualifying as I saw the Surtees crash live on Eurosport, I could see the tyre coming onto the track and had that terrible feeling that it was going to hit Henry. It’s the kind of thing a motorsport enthusiast never wants to see happen, it’s difficult to be entertained by a race when you’re worrying for the life of a driver.

Ferrari said the driver will now remain under observation in the intensive care unit at the AEK hospital in Budapest, where the Brazilian was taken after being hit by a spring during Q2.

Massa had suffered a damaged skull and brain concussion, as well as a cut on his forehead.

The Italian team said a further update on his condition will be issued tomorrow morning.

Brawn confirmed the spring belonged to a damper from Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn car, weighing around 800 grams.

“We had a problem at the back, so we are still investigating and we haven’t had the piece back from the FIA yet so once we get it back we can understand what occurred and then draw some conclusions,” said team boss Ross Brawn.

“It is the first time we’ve had a problem with the car. The car has been really reliable and we are obviously looking all through the data to understand what caused the problem. It is hard to comment at the moment until we have studied everything.

“We put a new component on Jenson’s car in qualifying just to be safe, but we are still studying everything that went on to understand what happened.”

Source: Autosport.com

That’s great news to hear and I wish Felipe all the best.

Below is the weight of each car following qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix, sorted by qualifying position.

Pos Driver Team Weight (kg)
1. Alonso Renault 637.5
2. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 655.0
3. Webber Red Bull-Renault 652.0
4. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 650.5
5. Rosberg Williams-Toyota 654.0
6. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 655.5
7. Raikkonen Ferrari 651.5
8. Button Brawn-Mercedes 664.5
9. Nakajima Williams-Toyota 658.0
10. Massa Ferrari
11. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 671.5
12. Trulli Toyota 671.3
13. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 689.0
14. Glock Toyota 679.2
15. Piquet Renault 667.7
16. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber 658.0
17. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes 680.5
18. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 683.5
19. Kubica BMW-Sauber 666.0
20. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 675.5

Felipe Massa will need to undergo surgery after it emerged he has suffered bone damage of his skull and a brain concussion in his accident at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Brazilian will be forced to miss the race after he was hit in the head by debris believed to belong to Rubens Barrichello’s car.

Massa was airlifted to a Budapest hospital, where he remains in stable condition.

Ferrari said in a statement that Massa will need to undergo surgery and will have to stay under observation in intensive care for an undisclosed period of time.

“After the accident during the qualifying session of the Grand Prix of Hungary, Felipe Massa was airlifted to the AEK hospital in Budapest,” the statement said. “Felipe was conscious at the arrival at the hospital and his general conditions remain stable.

“Following a complete medical examination it emerged that he had suffered a cut on his forehead, a bone damage of his skull and a brain concussion. These conditions need to be operated on after which he will remain under observation in intensive care.”

The team said further information will be released later tonight.

Rubens Barrichello and Lewis Hamilton believe something needs to be done to improve safety in Formula 1 following Felipe Massa’s accident at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Ferrari driver Massa was hit in the head by a flying piece of debris and the Brazilian suffered a damaged skull as a result of the impact.

Although Massa survived the incident, it came less than a week after F2 racer Henry Surtees was killed when a flying wheel hit him during a race at Brands Hatch.

Barrichello feels the two accidents were not a coincidence and he insists something needs to be done about it.

“I honestly don’t believe in coincidence in life,” Barrichello said. “Things happen for a reason and I think this is the second message. Imola [1994] was a message. The cars were improved. Unfortunately we lost a boy, which is tremendously sad.

“It is not a coincidence that something happened right now. In the GPDA (Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) we talked quite a lot about it yesterday – and something needs to be done. Yes. Absolutely.”

He added: “We need to sit down and have a look at it. I think the cars are a hell of a lot safer, really a lot safer. But there is no coincidence on this fact that something that needs to be looked at.”

World champion Hamilton agreed with Barrichello that drivers need to discuss the situation to get something done.

“During qualifying I saw the crash. It’s very scary, and I do hope he is okay,” said Hamilton. “It has to be a big shock for any driver to have that happen, and very unfortunate because rarely do you see it happen.

“On the positive side, with the GPDA and the FIA, they seem to have made a good step with safety. If you look at Heikki’s crash, he went under the barrier there in Barcelona, whereas here the barrier did quite a good job.

“I believe things happen for a reason, and for two incidents to happen in such a short period of time, we can’t ignore it.

“We’ve got to make sure we learn from it, and improve if we can.”

Massa’s team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, on the other hand, said the accident was just an unfortunate occurrence and he reckons there is little to do to avoid it.

“It is just an unlucky situation what happened today,” he said. “It could have happened two years ago, or it could happen five years ago.

“The cars have an open cockpit so there is always the chance that something can hit it. It is not the first time that someone has been hit and unfortunately sometimes drivers get very badly hurt or die. It is part of the risk in motor racing. For sure Felipe was very unlucky today and hopefully will be okay, but you cannot get rid of that issue.

“You would need to make a rule for a bullet proof window in front of you to get rid of that issue. It is just unfortunate that these things happen sometimes.”