It was a busy day today for Felipe Massa, who arrived in Italy yesterday to proceed with his recovery programme after his accident in Budapest.

After a couple of days of karting last week in Granja Viana (Brazil), today he took a further step towards getting back behind the wheel, although the wheel in question was that on a simulator.

Massa spent around six hours in Modena, mainly dedicating himself to regaining confidence with the commands of a single-seater. "We worked very well, without any problems," said the Brazilian. "The simulator uses a A1GP single-seater, so it's not exactly like Formula 1, but pretty close. I drove on the track in Barcelona to avoid creating an even bigger test atmosphere."

Later in the day Massa returned to Maranello: first he went to the gym and then to the computer, answering questions from the numerous fans, who have sent emails and wrote on the forum of Ferrari's website. "I miss Formula 1 a lot: it's my passion more than my job. It was hard to stay in front of the TV watching the team, also because I had to get up very early because of the different time-zones," he replied to one forum user.

Asked if he he noticed any difference between driving a kart and the simulator, he replied: "No difference at all. I had lots of fun in Granja Viana and today's work was more than anything else a way to get back in contact with a car. Obviously I can't wait to get back behind the wheel of a real single-seater."

This week's programme will continue tomorrow with another day at the simulator. Subsequently, a further programme will be decided, but there won't be a test with a Formula 1 car this week.