Though again, the HANS wasnt really being tested at all here. It wasn't that important, relatively.

Latest report from the hospital: no changes, according to scan everything looks ok.

He´ll remain sedated for the next 48 hours, as planned.

Very good.

I am so glad to hear Massa is doing ok..

Updates from Globo and whatnot during the broadcast.

From doctor Dino Altman:

- Felipe recognised him.

- Felipe reported he feels no pain.

- He knows why he is in the hospital.

That sounds very positive. Also the fact that the 2nd scan has come out showing no problems.

Good news.

Ah, another thing, Dino said Felipe had no damage in the eye itself neither in the nerves around, so it was just question to put everything in place during surgery.

Wasn't he suposed to be sleeping now? Or is this from prior to the CT scan this morning?

This happened this mornign when they woken up him.

Some positive signs, then. Very glad to hear that.

Thanks again to those providing the rest of us with updates.

OK, thanks.

A great relief that Felipe could speak and know his family, his doctor, and his boss, and know why he is in hospital.
Get well soon, Felipe Baby!

really? so when he hit the tyres at virtually unabated speed and his head snapped forward, you think he would have been better off with out head restraint provided by the HANS device?

Good news. Filipe, get well soon!

The rear wheels are individually sprung using torsion bars connected to the rockers. This 'third spring' is used to handle aero loads on the rear of the car. When both rear wheels are pressed down by the aero loads at high speed both rockers will move at the same time and the linkage connected to the 'third spring' will move and compress the spring. If this third spring come off for any reason the rear suspension will not collapse, but the rear of the car will lose ride height at speed which I believe Barrichello said something about.

He is being kept in a controlled coma because he was quite restless when he was lucid, as is often the case in TBI cases. Patient worries about what's happening, patient wants to get out of there asap especially if there no physical manifestations of anything being wrong, all natural reactions which unfortunately can potentially hurt the brain.

Clinically we 're 24 hours + from the incident, the fact he is still all clear on the cat scans is extremely encouraging, he is showing no cognitive deficits these are all extremely good news. I expect they will MRI him, probably tomorrow or Tuesday and if the MRI is clear he will be well on his way to rehab and recovery.

Yes, we should definitely take this to the logical extreme and imply that I think he was better off without the HANS. Well played.

His speed wasn't "virtually unabated"- he was going fast, but he wasn't going 200mph. It's not a low speed, but the key word here is "tested...relatively". The bigger damage here was always going to be the result of the spring. By all the accounts, the impact with the tire barrier was very low G due to the reduction in deceleration time caused by the tire barrier. The tire barrier did it's job so that the HANS wasn't relied on as heavily. This was not an extreme barrier impact.

(Compare it to Kubica's crash two years ago, or even Heikki's last year, and they're light years apart; the former especially, as it was very high G.)

Nowhere in here did anyone say that he shouldn't have had a HANS, let alone implying that he would've been better without it. We don't need to be ridiculous to have a conversation.

It's good news he has not gone downhill, but I'm not going to start feeling too positive yet, so many things could still go wrong.

I can't help but crying when I read Stefano said "Please allow me on behalf of everyone at Ferrari to send our best wishes to Felipe. We love you and we are all thinking of you."

Felipe Baby, we love you and we are all thinking of you!

Hi everyone,

I'm new to posting on the forum but have been reading the forum for the past couple of years and it was the first place I came to yesterday after Felipe's accident. I just want to say thanks to all those that have kept the updates coming I have just found a link on the BBC website to an interview with Rob Smedley (probably one of the best sources at the moment) and things sound much more positive. It does sound like things were very touch and go at one point yesterday and he's talked about Felipe's brain being swollen. The link is:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport...one/8169592.stm

Nice to meet you all, just wish I had started posting under better circumstances! Hopefully now I've taken then plunge I'll post a bit more

K

Good news ...thanks for the update

This is so devastating

Yesterday I was too busy to watch quali and learned about that horror crash only late in the night while going out with friends. I had to go home afterwards, as it was impossible to enjoy the evening any more. I left out to watch the race as well.

I hope so much that Felipe can become the same as before the accident; anything can happen to a person who suffered severe head injuries, people like Piquet sr lost their competitive edge, Wendliger even had to endure changes in personality and character.


Get well soon Felipe.

That's going to be the main issue and it's my concern..

That's going to be the main issue and it's my concern..

It was so brutal and i know your a big fan of his and i hope Felipe gets well soon.I wonder will Ferrari cancel Kimis participation in Finnish WRC event? Its the most dangerous one in calendar,with trees everywhere.

Didn't affect Hakkinen so you are over worrying

And lot more to the Wendlinger thing than is made out

He came back and came back fine in testing, blew away Frentzen but then Peter Sauber ****ed him over and slurred his reputation in the paddock

A lot depends on what kind of head injury he has - if he has had an injury to his brain then it can cause personality changes, etc depending on what part of the brain is affected. Rob Smedley made reference to his brain being swollen but not sure that means that any part of his brain has been permanently damaged though (I'm not a doctor so good chance I'm talking rubbish lol) People suffer from swollen brains after injury and recover completely without any lasting damage frequently so hopefully, it'll be the same for Felipe.

K

Hakkinen lost almost all his hearing on one ear and other side of his face is hanging.Didnt affect his driving,but he changed after that.

in formula 1 everything is up to the 00,1 sec. Massa will be a normal person for sure, but we are talking about that litle tenth or 2 tenths that make the diference in this sport. It's needed confidence and perfect helth. Mika managed to retain his speed, but not Piquet, Wendlinger and Letho had their carrears shorted.

Rubens giving latest on twitter.



Family say thanks to people on twitter for goodwill msgs.


Luca De is arriving tomorrow to visit Felipe in hospital.

Anyone knows any declaration from Schumi???

Btw, nice support words from Kimi, it shows why he and Felipe were able to gather various titles together in these few years.

The impact with the barrier produced a G force high enough to light up the high G warning light on his car.

i haven't hear any word of kimi...

i know its odd to say this, but maybe the fractured skull would help with the brain swelling, maybe just abit more room, or maybe not, as i think the swelling is maybe not so bad, but ofcourse with the skull there, the brain gets squeezed, or cant expand

hope he gets better soon

Anyone know what force is required to light it?

There's quite some in press conference and a BBC interview.

His manager said he won't be taking over from Massa. I imagine they'll go with Gene for the rest of the season.

Anyways guys, Felipe is being treated by some heroes of the medicine (Doc. Gérard Saillant, Doc. Sid Watkins, Doc. Dino Altmann, Doc. Riccardo Chicarelli between others...)

Lehto and Piquet were old when they had their accidents, Piquet if you mean his Champ Car crash was well into his 40's and Lehto must been mid 30's at imola

Wendlinger still had a good sportscar career post Monaco and Peter Sauber slurring him in the paddock is why he never got back to F1

Piquet Imola 1987.

Letho was 28 in 1994

My question is not whether Schummi commented on driving but whether he commented on his former team mates accident and condition. I would hope he did and soon.

he did. read it on some german website. if you want to, i'd see if i can find the source.

http://michael-schumacher.de/?page=news&am...854&lang=uk

"Concussion" is generally used to mean a minor brain injury. So yes, it does fit a broad definition of "brain damage." In my experience the lay term "brain damage" has some connotation of long-term behavioral changes, and a concussion may or may not cause these changes.

I think what you may be thinking of regarding ski accidents is the necessity to watch the victim for changes in the hours/days following the injury. This is due to the possibility of an unrecognized subdural hematoma, which can lead to a poor outcome even in someone who seems "fine" immediately after the accident. With Massa, he is already in very good hands and has had all the necessary studies done, and this shouldn't be a risk. So as he recovers, he's not likely to suddenly worsen again-- but it remains to be seen how fully he can recover.

It's clear Felipe suffered a bruise on the brain, or something similar. A doctor was on Sky News earlier saying about the potential side affects and mentioned that in the areas the doctor mentioned as being injured, these are areas of the brain that can affect speech, memory and personality and action. In essence, the same trouble Hammond still has, such as mood swings, depression, loss of memory at times, etc.

The fact its already been confirmed Massa woke up but was agitated and struggled to keep composed means that he obviously has some damage to make him react like that. The problem is whether it is short-term, or long-term, and that won't be known until they do more tests and wake him up again on Tuesday.

It's going to be a long road back, he won't be racing again this year, I very much doubt. If he could, by some miracle, I suppose Brazil would be a date he would try and get to, but I have serious reservations about whether he would race again, or for a few years at the very least. These types of injuries are not ones to enter the cockpit of a car that goes so fast.

It's all hype and speculation, but hopefully he does recover and does what is best for him. If racing is not an option, well, at least we still have a driver and he doesnt end up like a gruesome statistic of this dangerous sport.

That could just be a reaction to the drugs.

I'm so scared for Felipe. His life may be fine but what about the rest. Will he be the same? The sad part is that F1 is not a social service. It's for top drivers. Will he ever get back even though he will function as normal? There's not a single person it the world that can answer that question now. I'm a tifoso, I know him as a Ferrari driver. That's my relation to him. But he has a family, a kid coming soon. Obviously that's the most important thing. But should Felipe not return to F1, it will probably hurt him more than we can understand. Such a freak accident...

How would you react if you wake up in a hospital bed after such a huge smash on your head and after an operation on your skull?
Frankly, I think everybody would be at least agitated in such a situation.

Reports from Lucy Smedley again:

"All signs are still positive, Felipe making good progress, doctors not sure yet when they will be bringing him out of the induced coma but his body will indicate when it is the right time, but the doctors are making very positive statements. Rob says the doctors looking after him are fantastic."