Felipe Massa

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Felipe Massa

Massa giving thumbs-up at the 2005 United States Grand Prix
Nationality Flag of Brazil Brazilian
Car # 5
Current team Scuderia Ferrari
World Championship career
Races 72 (71 starts)
World Championships 0
Wins 2
Podium finishes 7
Pole positions 3
Fastest laps 2
First race 2002 Australian Grand Prix
First win 2006 Turkish Grand Prix
Latest win 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix
Latest race 2007 Australian Grand Prix
2006 Championship position 3rd (80 pts)

Felipe Massa (born April 25, 1981) is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver, currently employed by the Ferrari team.

Contents

Massa, an Italo-Brazilian whose grandfather came to Brazil from the city of Cerignola, Italy, was born in São Paulo, Brazil. He started to take an interest in racing after delivering pizzas to the Brazilian grand prix when he was 7. Massa began karting when he was 8 years old, finishing fourth in his first season. He continued in national and international championships for 7 years, and in 1998 he moved into Formula Chevrolet, finishing the Brazilian championship in fifth. In the next season, he won 3 of the 10 races and took the championship. In 2000, he moved to Europe to compete in the Italian Formula Renault series, winning both it and the European Formula Renault championship in the same year. Whilst having the opportunity to move into Formula 3, he opted instead for the Formula 3000 Euro-Series, and was dominant, winning 6 of the 8 races to take the championship. He was offered an F1 test with the Sauber team, who promptly signed him for 2002. In the meantime he guested for Alfa Romeo in the European Touring Car Championship.

Massa driving for Sauber at the 2005 British Grand Prix.
Massa driving for Sauber at the 2005 British Grand Prix.

His debut season of F1 saw him paired with 1999 F3000 champion Nick Heidfeld. Whilst showing that he definitely had pace, Massa made several mistakes and spun off the track on many occasions. He managed to score 4 championship points, including a 5th place finish at the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya. Late in the season he received a penalty for the United States Grand Prix, and thus Sauber brought in Heinz-Harald Frentzen, their former driver. Massa returned for Suzuka, but Frentzen was already confirmed as Heidfeld's team-mate for 2003. Having been denied a Jordan race seat, Massa moved to Ferrari as a test driver.

Having impressed the team, and showing signs that his mistake rate had declined, Massa was re-signed by the Sauber team for 2004, alongside Giancarlo Fisichella. He had a good season, scoring 12 of the team's 34 points - highlighted by a career-best 4th place at the Belgian Grand Prix. Fisichella generally outperformed his Brazilian team-mate, but Massa on occasion demonstrated sound pace. In 2005 he remained with Sauber, but in an uneventful season was unable to score regular points. He managed to outpace second driver Jacques Villeneuve over the course of the year, although the 1997 world champion was often the quicker of the two by the end of 2005. For 2006 Massa moved to Ferrari alongside Schumacher.

Massa celebrating victory at the 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix.
Massa celebrating victory at the 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix.
Massa behind the Safety Car at the 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix.
Massa behind the Safety Car at the 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix.

He got off to a good start at Ferrari, qualifying 2nd at the opening race in Bahrain, and managing to come from almost the back of the grid, (21st), to 5th in Malaysia, beating Schumacher who started from 14th. However, in Bahrain, in both Saturday practice and the race, he seemed to resume his tendency to spin, narrowly missing eventual winner Fernando Alonso in the race. He kept up his reputation as being a bit on the wild side at the Australian GP when he crashed his Ferrari in Qualifying, and then wrecking the heavily-repaired car at the first corner in the race in contact with Christian Klien and Nico Rosberg. However, he did score his first career podium at the Nürburgring, behind only Schumacher and Alonso, and then set the fastest lap at Barcelona. Since then he has managed to eliminate many unforced errors from his driving and has provided Schumacher with excellent backup during his world title campaign picking three more podium positions in the USA, France and Germany. He secured his first F1 pole position and his first F1 win at the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix, at the Istanbul Park circuit. His future position at Ferrari was secured by the announcing of Schumacher's retirement on 10 September 2006, and he will partner Kimi Räikkönen in the team for 2007 onwards. On the 22 of October, Felipe Massa won his home grand prix at the 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix, which was his second victory in his career, and the first time that a Brazilian driver won at Interlagos since Senna won in 1993.

In 2007 pre-season testing, Massa has topped the times 5 times and set the fastest lap for 4 out of 5 circuits.

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 WDC Points
2002 Sauber Petronas Sauber C21 Petronas V10 AUS
Ret
MAL
6
BRA
Ret
SMR
8
ESP
5
AUT
Ret
MON
Ret
CAN
9
EUR
6
GBR
9
FRA
Ret
GER
7
HUN
7
BEL
Ret
ITA
Ret
USA
JPN
Ret
13th 4
2004 Sauber Petronas Sauber C23 Petronas V10 AUS
Ret
MAL
8
BHR
12
SMR
10
ESP
9
MON
5
EUR
9
CAN
Ret
USA
Ret
FRA
13
GBR
9
GER
13
HUN
Ret
BEL
4
ITA
12
CHN
8
JPN
9
BRA
8
12th 12
2005 Sauber Petronas Sauber C24 Petronas V10 AUS
10
MAL
10
BHR
7
SMR
10
ESP
11
MON
9
EUR
14
CAN
4
USA
DNS
FRA
Ret
GBR
10
GER
8
HUN
14
TUR
Ret
ITA
9
BEL
10
BRA
11
JPN
10
CHN
6
13th 11
2006 Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari 248 F1 Ferrari V8 BHR
9
MAL
5
AUS
Ret
SMR
4
EUR
3
ESP
4
MON
9
GBR
5
CAN
6
USA
2
FRA
3
GER
2
HUN
7
TUR
1
ITA
9
CHN
Ret
JPN
2
BRA
1
3rd 80
2007 Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari F2007 Ferrari V8 AUS
6
MAL
BHR
ESP
MON
CAN
USA
FRA
GBR
GER
HUN
TUR
ITA
BEL
JPN
CHN
BRA
6th 3

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Constructors and drivers competing in the 2007 Formula One championship
McLaren Renault Ferrari Honda BMW Toyota Red Bull Williams Toro Rosso Spyker Super Aguri
Alonso
Hamilton
Fisichella
Kovalainen
Massa
Räikkönen
Button
Barrichello
Heidfeld
10 Kubica
11 Schumacher
12 Trulli
14 Coulthard
15 Webber
16 Rosberg
17 Wurz
18 Liuzzi
19 Speed
20 Sutil
21 Albers
22 Sato
23 Davidson
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