Ferrari legend Felipe Massa reveals ‘saddest day of his life’ after near-fatal accident

Photo: © IMAGO

Ferrari

Ferrari legend reveals ‘saddest day of his life’ after near-fatal accident

An F1 star has opened up over a horrifying incident in 2009

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Monday 5 August 2024 09:12 Updated: 11:21

Former Ferrari star and F1 winner Felipe Massa has discussed the impact of a horrifying crash at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix.

During qualifying in Budapest a spring broke loose from the car of Rubens Barrichello and hit Massa's helmet at over 250 km/h.

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Massa immediately lost consciousness and was promptly flown to hospital, where he was treated for nine days - two of which were in an induced coma.

The Ferrari star would miss the remainder of the 2009 season as he underwent plastic surgery to restore the area of his skull that had been hit by the spring.

Massa suffered a horrifying crash at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix

Felipe Massa reveals the impact of his 2009 Hungarian GP crash

Massa returned in 2010 and competed in F1 until 2017 but never won another race after the accident, with the press criticising the 11-time race winner.

"Nobody ever told me I wasn't the same,” Massa said to Motorsport.com.

“Of course I was criticised a lot in the press, because after my accident I didn't win another race in F1. But I came close several times.

"Unfortunately, I was denied victory in Germany, in the race that took place exactly one year after my accident, on 25 July 2010 [when the team ordered him to let Fernando Alonso past for the race win].

“It was one of the saddest days of my life. After that, I lived a different period, because I no longer had a competitive car to fight for victories as before."

2008 TITLE FIGHT (HALFWAY STAGE)
Raikkonen - 48pts
Hamilton - 48pts
Massa - 48pts

Championship battles have been CLOSE down the years ?#F1 https://t.co/pivCs7HZwQ
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 21, 2021

"I don't feel like anything has changed, in the sense of how I was before and how I am today," Massa added. “What I can say is that today I respect life much more, both mine and that of others.

“Because you never think that anything will happen, but when it does, you value life much more. I value mine one hundred percent, and I am grateful for it every day."

F1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Hungarian Grand Prix Felipe Massa Rubens Barrichello