Felipe Massa at the Budapest airport on Monday. (Reuters)

Budapest: Felipe Massa has begun his journey back to his home in Brazil, nine days after suffering life-threatening injuries in a crash during qualifying at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver left hospital and boarded a private jet on Monday. Massa appeared in good spirits as he left Budapest’s Ferihegy International Airport accompanied by his wife Raffaela, who is six months pregnant with their first child, and Dino Altman, the family doctor.

The 28-year-old underwent surgery on multiple skull fractures after a spring that had fallen from the back of Rubens Barrichello’s car struck his helmet at 162mph, dazing him and causing him to lose control of his car and crash into tyre barriers at high speed.

Massa will undergo further tests in Sao Paulo, where he will undergo further tests in hospital before he returns home later this week.

“Thank God, I’m feeling very well,” Massa said on Sunday. “I only have a bit of swelling in the region of my left eye. I’m anxious to return to Brazil and continue the recovery process.”

Asked as to his first wish on his return, Massa replied: “Checking everything is as it was before.

“Many things have happened over the last days and I want to get back to a normal life. I want to get back into the best possible condition, doing things you do every day.”

Massa added: “I know exactly what happened, that a spring came off Rubens’ car and hit me on the helmet. I know that something happened to me, but I didn’t feel anything when it happened.

“They told me that I lost consciousness at the moment of the spring’s impact on my helmet and I ran into the barriers, then I woke up in hospital two days later. I don’t remember anything, and that’s why what the doctors did had to be explained to me.

“When I saw Rob [Smedley, his race engineer], he asked me if I remembered Rubens, but the last thing I remembered was when I was behind him at the end of my fast lap in Q2, and than it’s blank. It’s difficult to explain, but I’m feeling much better now and I want to recover as soon as possible to get back behind the wheel of a Ferrari.”

Michael Schumacher, who will replace Massa in the Ferrari team until he recovers, visited the Brazilian in hospital on Saturday.

“Michael doesn’t need my advice,” Massa said. “It was him who gave me many tips during my career when we were racing together. He knows how to win, he knows how to drive and he’s great.

Meanwhile, Red Bull and Williams are opposed to Ferrari’s request to let Schumacher test in Massa’s F60 car.

Formula One regulations do not allow track testing during the season, although Schumacher completed 70 laps in a 2007 version Ferrari at Mugello near Florence last Friday and there has been speculation the sport's bosses may bend the rules given the circumstances.

Red Bull's team principle Christian Horner said on Monday Schumacher should not be treated any differently to Spanish teenager Jaime Alguersuari.