Massa in the US on Friday for further medical checks

It didn't take long for Felipe Massa to make a phone call to his old friend Rubens Barrichello, after the Brawn GP ace took the tenth victory of his career and the hundredth victory by a Brazilian in Formula 1.” My first attempt failed because he was debriefing with his Brawn Team. Later, however, I was able to talk to him and congratulate him on his fantastic victory. Of course I also thanked him for everything he did and told him how I spent the weekend. In fact, I was very moved when I saw a dedication in my honor on his helmet,” he added.

Felipe watched today's race from his home in Sao Paulo. On a cold Sunday morning by Brazilian standards (15 degrees), he was lying on the bed next to his wife Raffaella. “I also followed the race from my laptop, to better observe the live timing,” said Felipe, who also provided his comments via text message to the TV Globo reporter. A rather strange feeling for the Ferrari driver, who recalls: “The last time I saw a Formula 1 race on TV was the Japanese Grand Prix in 2003. It was the last race on the calendar and I hadn't moved in Japan because at that time I was Ferrari's test driver."

Felipe confessed that he behaved like a normal Brazilian fan. “I remained with my fingers crossed the whole time, waiting for a victory that could have established the supremacy of the Brazilians in Valencia. Let's not forget that I won the race in 2008, after starting in pole position and setting the best lap. Rubens did a fantastic job today. I checked his lap time and I'm sure he could have won even without the problem of Hamilton's McLaren. He was surprisingly fast in his second stint and he didn't make the slightest mistake.”

According to Felipe, Ferrari's performance equaled the previous three or four races. “I also spoke by phone with Stefano Domenicalli and Luca di Montezemolo after the race. We are still struggling a bit to qualify but our race time has improved a lot. Today Kimi had a good performance. He certainly didn't have the speed needed to catch Hamilton and Rubens, but at least he managed to stay ahead of Kovalainen's other McLaren.”

Felipe confirmed that he will travel to the USA on Friday to consult with CART's medical director, Steve Olvey. “I will take the CT scans with me and will probably undergo further tests at the Miami hospital.”