Massa fine after testing crash

Felipe Massa was taken to hospital in Barcelona after a big crash in testing at the Circuit de Catalunya at 9.30am (CET) on February 4th. The Sauber's front suspension failed heading into the first corner and the car impacted into the barrier at ...

Felipe Massa was taken to hospital in Barcelona after a big crash in testing at the Circuit de Catalunya at 9.30am (CET) on February 4th. The Sauber's front suspension failed heading into the first corner and the car impacted into the barrier at high speed.

Felipe Massa.

Photo by Nikki Reynolds.

Massa exited the car unaided and was taken to the track medical centre, after which he was airlifted by helicopter to hospital as a precautionary measure. The young Brazilian did not suffer any serious injury.

"Felipe went off the track in turn 1 at the beginning of his 4th lap in the morning," a team spokeswoman told Motorsport.com. "He was able to leave the car by himself, but was brought to the hospital for general checks and scans."

Massa, who returns to competition with Sauber this season, after a year as test driver for Ferrari, said in a statement released by the team later in the afternoon: "No problem, I'm fine."

Sauber will carry on testing on Friday 26th at Vairano, for straight line work with test driver Neel Jani. The next scheduled session will be at Jerez nest week.