Felipe Massa will celebrate his 200th Grand Prix at the British Grand Prix this weekend. This weekend however will be his 202nd Grand Prix weekend as he failed to start the 2005 United States Grand Prix where all Michelin runners withdrew from the race on the basis of safety grounds and due to his accident he also did not start the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Massa’s Formula One career began in 2002 where he joined Sauber and partnered Nick Heidfeld. Massa proved his competitiveness by finishing fifth at the Spanish Grand Prix which would be his best finish of the season. Despite this, he was dropped for Heinz-Harald Frentzen for the 2003 season nevertheless this proved to be a blessing in disguise for Massa as he was appointed test driver of current World Champions Ferrari. After a year out from competitive racing, Massa returned for 2004 alongside Giancarlo Fisichella. Massa was beaten by his more experienced teammate scoring only twelve points compared to the Italian’s twenty-two. Fisichella was signed by Renault who would later win both Championship’s in 2005 and 2006 whereas Massa remained at Sauber for one more season.
Massa joined Ferrari in 2006, replacing his fellow countryman Rubens Barrichello who had drove for the team since 2001. The Brazilian’s Ferrari career started of badly after qualifying second behind Michael Schumacher in Bahrain, Massa spun at turn one nearly collecting the Renault of Fernando Alonso in the process. His first podium came at the European Grand Prix where he finished third behind Alonso and Schumacher.
In a recent interview with Massa by Maurice Hamilton, the Brazilian admitted he knew that Kimi Raikkonen had already been signed by Ferrari for 2007 which meant he was likely to be dropped in favour of the Finn putting added pressure on the Brazilian. Ultimately, Michael Schumacher’s retirement allowed Massa to stay and partner Raikkonen in 2007.
Massa’s speed and form improved in the latter half of 2006, taking his first career pole and victory at the Turkish Grand Prix which was followed up by another pole and victory at his home-race at Brazil. Massa eventually finished third in the Drivers’ Championship . In 2007, Massa was unable to mount a title challenge as he suffered inconsistencies and notable mistakes such as going off the track when trying to pass Hamilton at the Malaysian Grand Prix and being disqualified at the Canadian Grand Prix for leaving the pit lane whilst the red light was showing. However, Massa did win three races and started on pole position six times – his contract at Ferrari was extended to the end of the 2010 season.
2008 will go down as Massa’s best season to date where he fought Hamilton for the Drivers’ Championship. The Brazilian struggled in the first two Grand Prix, spinning off at both Australia and Malaysia which led critics to ponder whether he had returned to his mistake-prone ways of when he first entered Formula One. Traction control was outlawed in 2008 which was a potential reason for Massa’s struggles. Massa silenced the critics by winning the next race in Bahrain.
Both Hamilton and Massa had their fair share of bad luck with stewarding penalties and team errors. Massa went onto win six races which could easily have been eight had his engine not failed on the last lap of the Hungarian Grand Prix and had his pit-stop in Singapore had ran smoothly.
The title fight between Massa and Hamilton went to the final race, where Hamilton would pass Timo Glock for fifth position to win the World Championship.
The 2009 Ferrari challenger proved uncompetitive as Massa failed to score in the opening four Grand Prix. As the car improved, so did Massa finishing 3rd at the German Grand Prix before his accident a race later. Massa’s head was struck by a suspension spring which had fallen from Rubens Barichello’s Brawn – this left Massa in a life-threatening condition which ruled him out for the rest of the season.
Fernando Alonso joined the team in 2010 where he would partner the Spaniard for four seasons. Despite showing early competitiveness and leading the Drivers’ Championship after Malaysia, Massa’s form dropped off and found himself over fifty points behind Alonso heading into the infamous German Grand Prix. Massa received instructions from his engineer Rob Smedley to move over for Alonso who was unable to overtake Massa fairly. He has described this race as the worst of his career and had Massa not moved over, he would have taken his twelfth victory of his career.
The next three seasons at Ferrari proved to be difficult as he was consistently being out-performed by Alonso and asked to move over for the Spaniard on a regular basis. In three seasons, Massa only scored three podiums compared to Alonso who managed to fight for the title in 2012. At the end of the 2013 season, it was announced that Massa would leave the team and join Williams where he would take his first pole position in six years.
From a fast but fragile rookie to a title contender, Felipe Massa’s Formula One career has had many highs but also many lows. He has found new life at Williams alongside the highly-rated Valtteri Bottas and looks to be back to his best. When Massa retires, he will be remembered for being the man who was World Champion for thirty seconds.
