Massa escaped blindness by a millimetre
Felipe Massa has explained that a distance as small as one millimetre was all it took to decide whether he had or had not lost sight in his left eye following his Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying crash. Thankfully, the Brazilian is on the road to making a full recovery following his freak accident in Budapest 45 days ago.
Whilst approaching the Hungaroring's Turn 4 on Saturday 25 July, Massa's helmet visor was struck by a flying metal spring - weighing 800g and at speeds of approximately 160mph - which had detached itself from compatriot Rubens Barrichello's Brawn car.
"You need to think about luck in different ways," Massa told The Guardian after being asked whether he considers himself lucky to be alive or unlucky to be involved in such an incident. "I was actually very unlucky with the spring in my face," he laughed.
"But I was very lucky as well. Every doctor said the same: if the spring had gone one millimetre to the right, I would have lost my sight. One millimetre to the left and who knows? I could have been brain damaged. So I was very lucky and this is more important because it is my life.
Cosmetic surgery for Massa (in the region of the left eye socket) proved successful on Monday and the Ferrari driver now continues to recover at home in São Paulo with the target being to return to the Formula One grid next year.
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