Another Milestone for Massa, but Fears Remain

CHESTE, Spain — In a major milestone, injured Ferrari Formula 1 driver Felipe Massa returned to the cockpit of the team's F60 single-seater on Sunday and completed about 20 laps of the Valencia circuit for the marque's Finale Mondiali event. In a posting on the Ferrari media site, Massa described the step forward as a "victory."

"I am very motivated," he said. "This today for me is like victory. It was just like before the accident at the Hungaroring."

In Massa's devastating accident during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix in July, a spring dropped off another car and bounced along the track and then hit Massa in the head at high speed. He injured his left eye, chipped his skull and now has a metal plate in his forehead following surgery after the crash.

While Ferrari described Sunday's event as a "special day for Felipe," the European media still seems to have its doubts about whether Massa can have a successful return to the sport. A month ago, the International Herald Tribune devoted a special report to Massa, on the "ins and outs of post-crash recovery."

The story noted that "some drivers return after injury as fit as ever, while others fail to equal their past performances" and characterized Massa's ordeal as "one of the trickiest in decades."

Riccardo Ceccarelli, the Toyota team doctor, who has a clinic for racing drivers in Italy, said a key factor in recovery is whether the driver is responsible for the accident.

"If the driver made the mistake, he analyzes it and he says, 'O.K., I made a mistake, I have to be careful, next time I will learn,' " Ceccarelli told the International Herald Tribune. "The worst thing is when the accident does not come from his own mistake — a wheel flying off, the brakes breaking, an animal going across the track, or the spring, for Massa."

Inside Line says: At this point, we'll just have to wait for the 2010 season to see whether Massa can bounce back completely from this major injury. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent