Felipe Massa has said he wants to make his return to Formula One at this year's Brazilian Grand Prix, scotching reports he could return for the Italian Grand Prix next month.
The Brazilian sustained a brain concussion and damage to his skull and left eye after being struck on the helmet by a spring that had fallen out of Rubens Barrichello's car during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Italian media reports had suggested he could return as soon as next month's Italian Grand Prix, but the Brazilian has now said he has set his sights on returning for his home event.
"I cannot wait to race again, I hope I can do the Brazilian Grand Prix," Massa told Brazilian television channel Globo. "But it's not for me to say, it's for the doctors, and I have to show I can be ready for the grand prix."
Massa will also have to pass an FIA medical test and an eye examination before he will be allowed back into a Formula One car.
"I think I am going to do some laps in a go-kart beforehand, then I will go to the FIA to do the examinations and get the authorisation to come back to racing," he said.
Massa says he has no recollections of the accident itself, and just remembers waking up in the hospital in Hungary.
"I lived the accident, but I slept," he said. "I didn't see the spring. Many people ask me, 'The spring came, did you not see it?' But I didn't see it hit me, I didn't see anything. The spring just hit my head and I slept. The car crashed and I carried on accelerating but it almost wasn't me that was doing it. It looks like I move my hands, but I was sleeping.
"When I woke in hospital, I felt that everything was working. I saw that my eye was really really big, but I was breathing and thinking. I could move my arms, I could move my legs, I could move everything."
He confirmed that Barrichello feels no guilt over the incident after he was visited at home by his fellow Brazilian last week.
"Not at all," Massa added. "He didn't even know that I was behind him. It's not a problem at all. We are really good friends and what happened was going to happen. It could have been the spring from anyone."
Twitter - follow autocar.co.ukSee all the latest Ferrari reviews, news and video
Add your comment