Felipe Massa returned to a Formula One car on Monday morning but Ferrari have confirmed that he will not be racing again until 2010.
Brazilian will not be rushed back into action by Ferrari
Felipe Massa returned to a Formula One car on Monday morning but Ferrari have confirmed that he will not be racing again until 2010.
The Brazilian took the privately owned F2007 for a spin at the Fiorano track near Maranello, Italy in his first drive in an F1 car since his near-fatal crash in Hungary in July.
Massa expressed himself to be delighted after everything went to plan.
"It went very well," he told
Sky Italia. "What happened last July 25 has not changed anything.
"I didn't manage to do many laps because it was raining but what I understood today is that everything has returned to how it was before the accident.
"I didn't have any problems, it was as if I'd never stopped.
"I am still the same as before and that makes me happy, for me and for the team."
Opportunity
However, the Italian team has stressed it was no indication that Massa was nearing a return to competitive action.
"This is in no way a proper test session and looking at the stopwatch will not be on the agenda - there will be plenty of time for that in 2010, when, alongside Fernando Alonso, he will begin development work of the new single-seater," a statement from the team said.
"It is simply an opportunity for Felipe to renew his acquaintance with his natural environment, namely the race track. The Brazilian driver will do a few laps at the wheel of a privately owned F2007, run by staff of Ferrari's F1 Clienti department.
"(The) event is significant but in no way does it signify a return to competition in the near future.
"In fact, based on a previously taken decision and after an informal medical examination in Paris a few days ago, which proved rather positive, but not enough to endorse a return to competition in the next two months, Felipe and the team want to proceed gradually and without any hurry to recover as well as possible from the effects of the accident.
"Therefore talk of a proper return to Formula One can wait until the start of the 2010 season and only at that time will the medical checks be carried out, as required by the FIA in order to allow someone who has been injured to return to racing."
