BUDAPEST: Ferrari driver Felipe Massa is on his way home to Brazil, nine days after a life-threatening crash during qualifying at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Massa is expected to arrive in Sao Paulo on Monday evening, accompanied on a private jet by his wife, Raffaela, who six months pregnant with their first child, and family doctor Dino Altman.

"Many things have happened over the last days and I want to get back to a normal life," Massa said in an interview on Ferrari's Web site. "I want to get back into the best possible condition — doing things you do every day."

Massa, who said he was feeling well aside from some swelling around his damaged left eye, left the AEK military hospital where he was being treated and will be transported in a helicopter from Sao Paulo airport to a local hospital.

He is expected to undergo further tests there and is likely to stay for about two days before being allowed to return to his home.

The 28-year-old Massa underwent surgery on multiple skull fractures after he was hit in the helmet by a loose part from another car and crashed into a protective tire barrier on Aug. 25.

He will be replaced at Ferrari by record seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, who visited Massa on Saturday at his Budapest hospital and is coming out of retirement to race.

"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.

"It was the best choice handing over the car to such a fantastic person and I'm sure that everybody will be happy to see him back on the track again — although I hope I'll be back on the track with Ferrari as soon as possible."