Felipe Massa is making good progress after suffering a fractured skull in an accident at last month's Hungarian Grand Prix, Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali said last night.

However, Domenicali did not comment on Italian media reports saying the Brazilian's recovery was going so well that he might be back at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza on September 13.

"Felipe is in excellent form and his recovery is going very well," Domenicali told the Italian team's website (www.ferrari.com) after visiting the 28-year-old in Brazil.

"I'm very happy about Felipe's state. The medical checks that have been carried out over the last two weeks continue to be very encouraging. Now it's important to be patient and take one step at a time, without any hurry."

Massa, last year's championship runner-up, spent several days in an induced coma and on a respirator in hospital after he was hit just above his left eye by a bouncing spring from Rubens Barrichello's Brawn car during qualifying for the race.

Test driver Luca Badoer will fill in after seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher cancelled plans for a temporary return to Formula One because of a neck injury.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.