Felipe Massa
From The Formula 1 Wiki
| |
| Fellipe Massa | |
| Scuderia Ferrari | |
| Nationality |  Brazil
|
| Number | 3 |
| Years Active | 2002- |
| Grand Prix | 106 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 11 |
| Podiums | 27 |
| Poles | 15 |
| Fastest Laps | 11 |
| First Grand Prix | 2002 Australian Grand Prix |
| First Win | 2006 Turkish Grand Prix |
| Last Win | 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix |
| Last Grand Prix | 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix |
| Last Season | 2008 |
| Last Season Position | 2nd (97 points) |
| Total Career Points | 298 |
| Previous Teams | Sauber |
Felipe Massa was born on April 25, 1981 in São Paulo, Brazil.
Contents |
[edit] Pre-F1
Massa began karting aged 8, competing in national and international for 7 years. In 1998 he moved up to Brazilian Formula Chevrolet finishing fifth in his rookie season and taking three wins out of 10 along with the championship the following season.
He moved to Europe in 2000 to compete in both Italian Formula Renault and the Formula Renault Eurocup for Cram Competition. He won both championships. Despite having the opportunity to move into Formula 3, Massa chose the Formula 3000 Euro-Series representing Draco Junior Team in 2001. The decision proved very wise as he dominated the series taking six race wins out of eight. He also competed four races in the European Touring Car Championship.
[edit] Formula 1
[edit] Sauber (2002, 2004-2005)
After his huge success in Formula 3000, he was signed by Sauber for the 2002 season. Despite proving that he could be competitive, Massa's performances were very error prone and he was dropped for one race toward the end of the season. Sauber confirmed after the season that Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who took Massa's place in the US Grand Prix, would be given a full season for the team in 2003 leaving Massa without a drive.
Massa was offered the position of lead test driver for Ferrari during 2003, thanks in part to his manager Nicolas Todt son of Ferrari team principal Jean. He accepted the position and earned some much needed experience.
He returned to Sauber in 2004 and the experience gained during his time at Ferrari showed. Despite being beaten, points wise, by team mate Giancarlo Fisichella, the errors that dogged his rookie season were almost non existent.
Massa remained with Sauber for the 2005 season. He regularly outperformed his vastly more experienced team mate Jacques Villeneuve, but the Sauber team struggled overall, finishing eighth in the Constructor's Championship ahead of only Jordan and Minardi.
[edit] Ferrari (2006-Present)
Massa replaced compatriot Rubens Barrichello at Ferrari in 2006 partnering seven times World Champion Michael Schumacher. The move confirmed suspicions that Schumacher wanted a partner that could not compete at the same level as him. Massa struggled early on, picking up just one podium, at the Nürburgring, from the first nine grand prix with the team. The following nine grand prix were much more successful though. Massa picked up his first ever podium, in the United States, soon followed by his first and second grand prix wins, in Turkey and Brazil respectively. He finished third overall, but a massive 41 points behind team mate Schumacher and 54 points behind Championship winning Fernando Alonso.
Following Schumacher's retirement at the end of 2006, Massa was promoted to joint team leader with new partner Kimi Räikkönen. 2007 started badly with Massa suffering a number of problems in Australia and struggling against the McLaren's of Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton in Malaysia. His form soon picked up, winning back-to-back grand prix in Bahrain and then Spain both from pole position. Despite performing well for the majority of the season, picking up a third win in Turkey to go with his 10 podiums, Massa could only manage fourth overall in a season in which the top three overall, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Championship winning team mate Kimi Räikkönen, were all separated by just one point.
2008 started badly for Massa, retiring in both Australia and Malaysia. But he bounced back with wins in Bahrain, his second in a row there, and Turkey, his third in a row there. He kept himself in the hunt for the Drivers Championship with further wins in France, Valencia and a controversial win in Belgium. He also took the first ever night time Formula 1 pole in Singapore but could only finish 13th. Going into the final Grand Prix of the season in Brazil, Massa was seven points behind Championship leader Lewis Hamilton, meaning he needed to win the race and have Hamilton finish sixth or worse to win the Championship. With just one lap to go it looked as though the seemingly impossible would happen. Massa was leading comfortably with Hamilton sixth and struggling to catch Sebastian Vettel in fifth. Massa took the chequered flag and the Ferrari team began celebrating. However, Hamilton managed to catch and pass an ailing Timo Glock to take fifth place with just one corner to go. Massa was clearly overcome with emotion on the podium after coming so close to winning the title on home soil. He finished just one point behind Hamilton overall, the second season in a row that the title has been won by that margin.
[edit] Complete Results
(Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Sauber Petronas | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | AUS 6 | MAL 5 | BHR 1 | ESP 1 | MON 3 | CAN DSQ | USA 3 | FRA 2 | GBR 5 | EUR 2 | HUN 13 | TUR 1 | ITA Ret | BEL 2 | JPN 6 | CHN 3 | BRA 2 | 4th | 94 | ||
| 2008 | Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro | AUS Ret | MAL Ret | BHR 1 | ESP 2 | TUR 1 | MON 3 | CAN 5 | FRA 1 | GBR 13 | GER 3 | HUN 17 | EUR 1 | BEL 1 | ITA 6 | SIN 13 | JPN 7 | CHN 2 | BRA 1 | 2nd | 97 |
[edit] Personal Life
Felipe married Anna Rafaela Bassi on November 30, 2007 in his hometown São Paulo.
He hosts the Desafio Internacional das Estrelas (International Challenge of the Stars), a karting event for charity, after every season and has seen F1 drivers such as Michael Schumacher, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Rubens Barrichello compete.
| 2008 Formula 1 Season - Teams and Drivers |
|---|
| Ferrari | BMW Sauber | Renault | Williams | Red Bull | Toyota | Toro Rosso | Honda | Super Aguri* | Force India | McLaren |
| 1 Räikkönen 2 Massa |
3 Heidfeld 4 Kubica |
5 Alonso 6 Piquet |
7 Rosberg 8 Nakajima |
9 Coulthard 10 Webber |
11 Trulli 12 Glock |
14 Bourdais 15 Vettel |
16 Button 17 Barrichello |
18 Sato* 19 Davidson* |
20 Sutil 21 Fisichella |
22 Hamilton 23 Kovalainen |
