Despite worrying reports from earlier on in the day, the doctors treating Felipe Massa in Hungary say that the Brazilian driver could make a full recovery from injuries sustained during the Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying session.
Massa's condition has continued to improve throughout the day, and he is reported to now be conscious and able to speak. He has been taken off artificial ventilation and doctors have refuted earlier claims that he may have suffered permanent damage to his left eye.
Speaking at a news conference at the AEK hospital where Massa remains in intensive care, Dr. Lajos Zsiros, the chief surgeon with the Hungarian Defence Forces, said that Massa was awake, and was unlikely to need sedating again.
"In the last 24 hours some major changes have gone through in the condition of Felipe Massa," Zsiros said, "His condition continues to be stable. During the CT-scan we performed we could ascertain that there was an improvement in his condition. We stopped sedation and after that Felipe Massa became capable of making contact.
"So in the afternoon we stopped the artificial ventilation of Felipe. As we speak he is sleepy, but he gives adequate answers to the questions we ask him, and he can move his arms and legs spontaneously."
He added: "Right now he has no fever, and we have removed the drain tube from his wound. Further improvement of his condition can be expected. During the night we do not plan to do any more interventions on him."
Dr. Zsiros was quick to deny the earlier reports that Massa's left eye was damaged, news which led to speculation as to whether his Formula 1 career would be over. Massa was struck on the helmet by a spring from Rubens Barrichello's car during the qualifying session at the Hungaroring at the weekend.
Zsiros explained that it was too early to tell if there was any damage, as Massa was still unable to open his left eye. "We can give no positive neither negative answer to this, because at this stage the vision cannot be examined."
He clarified that there was no evidence that Massa could not make a full recovery from his injuries, which included a fractured skull and concussion.
"There is no such thing as 'this condition', because every case is different," he stated, "Of course it isn't impossible."
As to when it could be determined if the Brazilian had suffered any lasting injuries, he said: "There is no interval which we can define, but I would say it should be from one week to ten days."
Dino Altmann, the Chief Medical Officer of the Brazilian Grand Prix, was also present at the news conference, and he confirmed that Massa was now able to speak to them.
"He spoke, he wanted to know what happened to him. And he had some questions," Altmann said, "I would like to say that the family is very happy with the treatment Felipe is receiving here, and there's no question about transfer at the moment."
Altmann added that Massa was yet to be asked if he had any memory of the accident, and explained that the operation on Saturday afternoon, which was earlier described as "life-saving", was performed due to the skull damage, and not because of any swelling of the brain.
Massa's family will stay in the hospital "at all times", and the Ferrari driver will remain in intensive care for as long as is deemed necessary.
Earlier, Massa had been visited by Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo, who claimed that he was confident that his driver would recover fully.
"I'm confident and optimistic about Felipe's capacity to recover," di Montezemolo had said, "also because he has excellent medical care and I want to thank the staff at the AEK hospital for the work they're doing.
"It was a serious and incredible accident, but thank God this is a different situation compared to 1976 when I went to see Niki Lauda after the accident at the Nurburgring. We have to wait, but the signs are encouraging."
Di Montezemolo added that a decision would be made on who would replace Massa for the duration of his absence from the cockpit, which some have speculated could be for the rest of the season, "when the time is right", pointing out that F1 is currently in it's summer break, and that the priority was ensuring that Massa recovered well.
"Our priority is the recovery of Felipe as a man," he said. "He has been with us for a long time and he is part of the family and not just of the team... We're all waiting for him at Ferrari and I'm convinced that we'll see him again in one of our single-seaters and that he will be again on top."
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