Felipe Massa fell in love with karting at eight years old and spent the following seven years competing in national and international championships. In 1998, he moved to single-seaters, entering the Brazilian Formula Chevrolet Championship. He won the series the following year and then captured the Euro F3000 title in 2001, with six wins in eight races.
| Nationality | Brazilian |
|---|---|
| Born | Felipe Massa 25 April 1981 São Paulo, Brazil |
This success naturally attracted the attention of Formula One teams. In 2002, Massa secured a race seat with Sauber, partnering with Nick Heidfeld. Despite showing obvious talent, Massa made several rookie mistakes and incurred a one-race suspension, causing him to miss the 2002 US Grand Prix and consequently dropped by the team at the end of the season. The following season, he was a test driver for Ferrari before returning to Sauber, where he raced alongside Giancarlo Fisichella in 2004 and Jacques Villeneuve in 2005.
Massa lost his seat when BMW bought out Sauber, which was a blessing. Ferrari offered him a spot alongside Michael Schumacher. In his first season with Ferrari in 2006, Massa earned his first career podium at the 2006 European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring and his first victory at the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix. He won again in Brazil, becoming the first Brazilian to win his home race since Ayrton Senna.
In 2008, Massa won the Brazilian GP again but narrowly missed out on the world title. For a brief moment, he was world champion until Lewis Hamilton secured the necessary fifth place at the final corner, creating the iconic image of a proud but emotional Massa on his home podium.
The following year, Massa suffered a severe head injury in Hungary when debris from another car struck his helmet during practice. His condition was initially life-threatening but stable, and he made a full recovery. Although he missed the rest of the season, he made an emotional return to Sao Paulo to wave the chequered flag at the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix.
Massa’s frustration at being seen as the enduring wingman to Ferrari teammates, including Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso, peaked during the 2010 German Grand Prix. His race engineer, Rob Smedley, infamously radioed, “Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm you understood that message?”—a coded team order to let Alonso pass. Massa left Ferrari at the end of 2013 and joined Williams, where he secured five more podiums before announcing his retirement at the end of 2016.
However, after the unexpected retirement of Nico Rosberg following his 2016 championship win, Massa was called back to Williams for the 2017 season to fill the seat alongside Lance Stroll, as Valtteri Bottas moved to Mercedes. He retired at the end of the season, with his last race at the 2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Felipe Massa Formula One World Championship career
| F1 Career | 2002, 2004–2017 |
|---|---|
| Teams | Sauber, Ferrari, Williams |
| Car number | 19 |
| Entries | 272 (269 starts) |
| Championships | 0 (2nd in 2008) |
| Wins | 11 |
| Podiums | 41 |
| Career points | 1167 |
| Pole positions | 16 |
| Fastest laps | 15 |
| First entry | 2002 Australian Grand Prix |
| First win | 2006 Turkish Grand Prix |
| Last win | 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix |
Felipe Massa Teammates
| 11 drivers | Involvement | First Year | Last Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Heidfeld | 16 | 2002 | |
| Giancarlo Fisichella | 18 | 2004 | |
| Jacques Villeneuve | 19 | 2005 | |
| Michael Schumacher | 18 | 2006 | |
| Kimi Raikkonen | 45 | 2007 | 2009 |
| Fernando Alonso | 77 | 2010 | 2013 |
| Valtteri Bottas | 59 | 2014 | 2016 |
| Felipe Nasr | 5 | 2014 | |
| Susie Wolff | 3 | 2014 | 2015 |
| Lance Stroll | 20 | 2017 | |
| Paul di Resta | 1 | 2017 |
Race Wins
| Win Number | Grand Prix |
|---|---|
| 1 | 2006 Turkish Grand Prix |
| 2 | 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix |
| 3 | 2007 Bahrain Grand Prix |
| 4 | 2007 Spanish Grand Prix |
| 5 | 2007 Turkish Grand Prix |
| 6 | 2008 Bahrain Grand Prix |
| 7 | 2008 Turkish Grand Prix |
| 8 | 2008 French Grand Prix |
| 9 | 2008 European Grand Prix |
| 10 | 2008 Belgian Grand Prix |
| 11 | 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix |
Complete Formula One Results
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Sauber Petronas | Sauber C21 | Petronas 02A 3.0 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 04A 3.0 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 05A 3.0 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 056 2.4 V8 | BHR 9 | MAL 5 | AUS Ret | SMR 4 | EUR 3 | ESP 4 | MON 9 | GBR 5 | CAN 5 | 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 056 2.4 V8 | 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 | Ferrari F2008 | Ferrari 056 2.4 V8 | 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 | |||
| 2009 | Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro | Ferrari F60 | Ferrari 056 2.4 V8 | AUS Ret | MAL 9 | CHN Ret | BHR 14 | ESP 6 | MON 4 | TUR 6 | GBR 4 | GER 3 | HUN DNS | EUR | BEL | ITA | SIN | JPN | BRA | ABU | 11th | 22 | ||||
| 2010 | Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro | Ferrari F10 | Ferrari 056 2.4 V8 | BHR 2 | AUS 3 | MAL 7 | CHN 9 | ESP 6 | MON 4 | TUR 7 | CAN 15 | EUR 11 | GBR 15 | GER 2 | HUN 4 | BEL 4 | ITA 3 | SIN 8 | JPN Ret | KOR 3 | BRA 15 | ABU 10 | 6th | 144 | ||
| 2011 | Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro | Ferrari 150º Italia | Ferrari 056 2.4 V8 | AUS 7 | MAL 5 | CHN 6 | TUR 11 | ESP Ret | MON Ret | CAN 6 | EUR 5 | 6th | 118 | |||||||||||||
| Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari 150º Italia | Ferrari 056 2.4 V8 | GBR 5 | GER 5 | HUN 6 | BEL 8 | ITA 6 | SIN 9 | JPN 7 | KOR 6 | IND Ret | ABU 5 | BRA 5 | |||||||||||||
| 2012 | Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari F2012 | Ferrari 056 2.4 V8 | AUS Ret | MAL 15 | CHN 13 | BHR 9 | ESP 15 | MON 6 | CAN 10 | EUR 16 | GBR 4 | GER 12 | HUN 9 | BEL 5 | ITA 4 | SIN 8 | JPN 2 | KOR 4 | IND 6 | ABU 7 | USA 4 | BRA 3 | 7th | 122 | |
| 2013 | Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari F138 | Ferrari 056 2.4 V8 | AUS 4 | MAL 5 | CHN 6 | BHR 15 | ESP 3 | MON Ret | CAN 8 | GBR 6 | GER Ret | HUN 8 | BEL 7 | ITA 4 | SIN 6 | KOR 9 | JPN 10 | IND 4 | ABU 8 | USA 12 | BRA 7 | 8th | 112 | ||
| 2014 | Williams Martini Racing | Williams FW36 | Mercedes PU106A Hybrid 1.6 V6 t | AUS Ret | MAL 7 | BHR 7 | CHN 15 | ESP 13 | MON 7 | CAN 12 † | AUT 4 | GBR Ret | GER Ret | HUN 5 | BEL 13 | ITA 3 | SIN 5 | JPN 7 | RUS 11 | USA 4 | BRA 3 | ABU 2 | 7th | 134 | ||
| 2015 | Williams Martini Racing | Williams FW37 | Mercedes PU106B Hybrid 1.6 V6 t | AUS 4 | MAL 6 | CHN 5 | BHR 10 | ESP 6 | MON 15 | CAN 6 | AUT 3 | GBR 4 | HUN 12 | BEL 6 | ITA 3 | SIN Ret | JPN 17 | RUS 4 | USA Ret | MEX 6 | BRA DSQ | ABU 8 | 6th | 121 | ||
| 2016 | Williams Martini Racing | Williams FW38 | Mercedes PU106C Hybrid 1.6 V6 t | AUS 5 | BHR 8 | CHN 6 | RUS 5 | ESP 8 | MON 10 | CAN Ret | EUR 10 | AUT 20 † | GBR 11 | HUN 18 | GER Ret | BEL 10 | ITA 9 | SIN 12 | MAL 13 | JPN 9 | USA 7 | MEX 9 | BRA Ret | ABU 9 | 11th | 53 |
| 2017 | Williams Martini Racing | Williams FW40 | Mercedes M08 EQ Power+ 1.6 V6 t | AUS 6 | CHN 14 | BHR 6 | RUS 9 | ESP 13 | MON 9 | CAN Ret | AZE Ret | AUT 9 | GBR 10 | HUN WD | BEL 8 | ITA 8 | SIN 11 | MAL 9 | JPN 10 | USA 9 | MEX 11 | BRA 7 | ABU 10 | 11th | 43 |
Sources: Wikipedia.com
