Felipe Massa will be back behind the wheel of a Ferrari on Monday if all goes well at a medical check-up by doctors appointed by the FIA in Paris tomorrow. The Brazilian's return to the cockpit of a Formula One car would be 11 weeks and two days after being lifted from the wreckage of his Ferrari during qualifying for the Hungarian grand prix with what were initially described as "life-threatening" head injuries.
Massa, who has since had a steel plate inserted in his skull above his left eye, sustained a 160mph impact to his helmet when it was hit by a rear spring which fell off the Brawn driven by his compatriot Rubens Barrichello which was running ahead of his Ferrari at the Hungaroring circuit on 25 July.
After 10 days in the intensive care department of a military hospital in Budapest Massa was flown to Brazil in a specially chartered private jet, since when his determination to force the pace of his recovery has impressed all who have come into contact with him.
Having already limbered up with some testing on a kart in Brazil, as well as on the simulator at Ferrari's Maranello base, heis due to enter the next stage of hisrehabilitation on Monday morning when he slips into the cockpit of a two-year-old Ferrari F2007 at the Italian team'sFiorano test track adjacent to their headquarters.
Formula One regulations preclude any driver from testing a contemporary car on current tyres during the course of the world championship season. But sampling an outdated car is not prohibited. It is not ideal but it will give Massa enough data to establish whether or not he has lost the fine edge of judgment crucial to perform at the highest level in such a split-second sport.
Massa will be in Brazil for his home grand prix on 18 October to wave the chequered flag, following in the footsteps of Pele and the model Gisele Bundchen who did likewise at Interlagos in 2002 and 2004. It must be hoped that Massa will at least have his eyes on the conclusion of what could be the title decider, unlike Pele, who famously failed to carry out his duty. The world's most famous footballer was looking the other way when Michael Schumacher beat his brother Ralf by half a second.
US F1 have passed a second inspection test conducted by the FIA ahead of their debut next year. Question marks have been recently raised about US F1's viability, notably by Formula One's commercial rights holder, Bernie Ecclestone, and the FIA president, Max Mosley. However, the FIA deputy president for sport, Nick Craw, is satisfied with the work being done by the team after visiting their headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, on yesterday. The team principal, Ken Anderson, is confident the car will be unveiled in January prior to the opening race of the 2010 season in Bahrain in mid-March.
David Coulthard, a former driver for the McLaren and Red Bull Formula One teams, has said the sport's governing body should have punished a Renault driver for cheating. Nelson Piquet Jr. was granted immunity as a whistleblower.

The deliberate crash behind the scandal 
Renault ordered Piquet to crash his car during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, which he did. This benefited team-mate Fernando Alonso's race strategy, and he went on to win the event. After being fired midway through the current season, Piquet told the FIA, who oversee F1, that the team had been cheating.

Renault were banned for life, suspended by two years, just before this year's Singapore Grand Prix. At the same hearing, head engineer Pat Symonds was banned for five years and manager Flavio Briatore for life. Alonso is not thought to have been aware of the scheme. Coulthard expressed dissatisfaction at that result today during a Red Bull event in Mumbai.

''The Times of India'' has revealed that Coulthard said today, "I think FIA should have punished Piquet too. He was equally guilty as any other." Coulthard, who drives an F1 car across a new sea bridge in Mumbai on Sunday, said, "I will be surprised if he gets an F1 drive again," and that the scandal had shaken him.

Another F1 driver in the news is Felipe Massa. Massa was seriously injured at the Hungaroring in Hungary when a spring came off a car ahead of him and struck his helmet at 160 mph. He spent ten days in intensive care at a military hospital and has a metal plate in his head to mend his fractured skull.

Now, on Monday he intends to drive a 2007 Ferrari F1 car in Italy, just over 11 weeks after the accident. Massa has already driven a cart in his homeland of Brazil and recently underwent simulator testing. He is set to wave the flag at the finish line of this year's race in Brazil.

Massa, whose injuries were considered life threatening, spoke out earlier this month about the fact that Alonso's Singapore win cost him points that would have meant victory in the drivers' championship had he topped the podium. "All of what happened was robbery... It changed the championship. I lost by one point."

He also said the sentences should have been tougher. He compared the case to a cheating football team. "The team responsible were relegated. Here they just sent Briatore home. I don't understand it and I don't think it was right."