No racing driver likes to be a spectator and Felipe Massa (above on the Ferrari pit wall in Interlagos yesterday) admitted it was quite tough filling that role this weekend. “I have to say I want to be in the car, driving especially here in Brazil. It would have been fantastic to come back for this race. Unfortunately we need to wait a little bit more."

For a driver to take part in an official FIA press conference, he has to be taking part in the Grand Prix, but there is so much interest in Felipe Massa in Brazil, that the FIA invited the Ferrari driver to Friday afternoon’s official press conference.

“I mean it would be better to be driving the car but I am quite happy that things are going quite well,” said the Brazilian when asked how he felt. “The recovery was really great, so I can say I am the same as before. In the last three weeks, which was after the second operation, I started to do fitness and I have to say now I am really the same I was before the accident in terms of the physical side. I did the simulator, not really one day, it was 100kms in Fiorano in the 2007 car and it was very good. To be honest, I was pushing, I was not really slow, everything was normal. Even the consistency was good. Everything was really normal and I am really, really happy. Now I can do everything, like I was doing before. The only big issue is that everything needs to be 100 per cent ready as our sport is a risk sport. We can have another accident. I hope not, but we can. It is better to be 100 per cent ready to recover from another accident. That is why we are waiting a little bit more and it will be better to wait until next year.”

No racing driver likes to be a spectator and Felipe admitted it was quite tough filling that role this weekend. “I have to say I want to be in the car, driving especially here in Brazil. It would have been fantastic to come back for this race. Unfortunately we need to wait a little bit more. It is not very easy to be on the outside just looking and not doing anything, just discussing what’s happening on the test, but let’s prepare everything for next year to be in a good shape.”

He got a chance to meet his next year’s team-mate today, albeit briefly, but at least they have now had a face to face encounter. “We’ve just shaken hands,” said Massa. “I asked ‘how is it going here,’ he said ‘very difficult,’ so no more than that. We haven’t really spoken about next year, but for sure we’re going to have enough time to speak about next year and I hope that we can have a great team and we can have very good results for Ferrari.”

Felipe Massa's comments at a lunch with Brazilian journalists is causing some uproar in the media and went straight to the top of the day's news agenda. When asked if Fernando Alonso might have known about the details of the Singapore crash affair the Brazilian driver confirmed that he thought he must. Afterwards, Ferrari went into overdrive to try to limit the damage and stop the story rearing its head again. “What I've said is the outcome of a hunch I've had and is not based on any concrete evidence,” Massa said later in a statement posted on the Ferrari website. “The FIA World Council announced that there was no indication that Fernando may have been informed of what had happened and I respect this outcome. Obviously I'm very disappointed about what transpired last year in Singapore: I have already said several times what I thought about it and now it's time to close that chapter and to look to the future. What is certain is that this episode will not marr in any way the relationship I'll have with Fernando when we will be teammates.”