Williams’ Felipe Massa seems to have made a full recovery following a period of illness at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Felipe Massa recovers from Hungarian Grand Prix Illness
In the second practice session of the weekend, Massa began to feel unwell and decided to pull out of the weekend prior to qualifying during final practice. This meant that Paul di Resta, Williams’ reserve driver, had to step up to the race seat for the remainder of the weekend, having had no experience of driving a 2017 F1 car and limited time behind the wheel of a car from the V6 Hybrid engine era.
It is understood that Massa suffered from labyrinthitis – a virus that causes the inflammation of the inner ear, affecting hearing and balance. Massa is not the only figure in the F1 paddock to have suffered from this virus, with Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle contracting the virus at the British Grand Prix.
Last week, Massa posted a photo of himself on his trainer on Instagram. Since then, Massa has revealed that he has returned to racing in Sau Paulo, lapping around a cart track at speed at Interlagos. “Great feeling getting back on track!” he said. “I feel good.”
This suggests that Massa will be back on the grid for the Belgian Grand Prix although it was speculated if the 36 year old would return after the summer break. After the first 11 races of 2017, Massa has secured 23 points which leaves him in 11th place in the Drivers’ Championship, only five points ahead of his rookie team mate, Lance Stroll.
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