Felipe Massa has thanked family, friends, his doctors and the myriad of well-wishers who aided his recovery following life-saving surgery.

Massa is now back home in Sao Paulo after yesterday being released from the AEK military hospital in Budapest where he had spent the previous nine days.

Although still sporting a swollen left eye and deep gash where he was struck by flying debris which fractured his skull during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix, Massa is firmly on the mend.

And the 28-year-old believes the care and prayers of so many people ensured he was back on his feet quicker than expected.

"First of all I want to thank God," said Massa, who spent the first two days following the operation in a medically-induced coma.

"Then I want to thank the doctors at the track and at Budapest's AEK hospital, who have done a lot for me, and Dino Altmann (his personal physician), who came with my family from Brazil and who was extraordinary over the last few days.

"But I also want to thank everybody who prayed and who wrote to me, hoping that everything went well.

"So many people wrote to me, including many who aren't interested in Formula One but had heard about what happened to me.

"Thank you so much, and I want to tell them that I'm also praying for them.

"I would have done the same if an accident had happened to another driver."

Highlighting the pivotal role of his family, Massa added: "They are important to me.

"They have always been close to me during my career; victories, defeats, and the most difficult moments.

"There was only Edoardo (his brother) in Budapest when the accident happened, but then Raffaela (his wife, who is six months pregnant), my father, my mother and then my sister came to Hungary.

"I know they've suffered a lot and I want to thank them, and then there's another family I have to thank - the Ferrari family.

"They were great, they helped us in any possible way and it's a great thing to be part of this group."

The only question mark now hanging over Massa would appear to be the date of his return to Formula One.

Until then, seven-time world champion Schumacher will be behind the wheel, starting in Valencia with the European Grand Prix on August 23.