Felipe Massa - Luckiest Guy Alive!
by The Stinger on Jul.26, 2009, under Motorsport
Yesterday at the Hungaroring in Budapest, Hungary during qualifying for the F1 event today, Ferrari driver Felipe Massa had one of the scariest moments he will ever face. A rear spring from Rubens Barrichello’s car had broken off and was on the track as Massa hurtled down the straight approaching a left hand corner.
The spring flicked up and struck Massa in the head while he was doing close to 300km/h, knocking him unconscious and with both feet flat to the boards on the brakes and throttle he speared through the sand trap and head first into the tyre wall.
It seemed to take an eternity for the marshalls to get his machine shut down and then to get him out. After about ten or fifteen minutes they finally got him out and he seemed to be moving around and at the very least, still alive. He was rushed to the hospital where he underwent surgery.
He has multiple fractures to his skull and he is in an induced coma but at least he is still alive. It was a scary reminder yet again of how dangerous the sport is coming so soon after F2 driver Henry Surtees died after being struck in the head by a wayward tyre and crashing only last weekend.
It also brings back memories of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger who both died on the same weekend back in 1994. Ironically, Rubens Barrichello was also injured in a crash during that same race weekend at San Marino.
To show just how lucky Massa is, here is a photo of him being taken out of his car after the crash. Don’t look if you are a little squeamish.
