Unapologetically emotional, a loving family man and a stalwart friend to Formula 1’s travelling circus: that is how those who know Felipe best will remember his grand prix racing career. And yet, for a man more ready than most to show off his emotions in the macho environment of the paddock, the Brazilian has shown a remarkable ability to overcome adversity.
To become world champion with a win on home turf in front of a cheering crowd of his fellow Brazilians, and then to lose the title just seconds later as Hamilton was confirmed ahead of Glock is perhaps the single greatest emotional roller-coaster any driver has experienced in F1.
Massa would compound this potentially derailing disappointment in subsequent seasons with life-threatening injuries and a bruising tenure as Fernando Alonso’s whipping-boy. The grace with which Massa has comported himself throughout his trials and tribulations is a marker for any sportsman.
It is perhaps a shame that his exit from the sport has not been quite as graceful. Last year’s tear-drenched trudge from his crashed car received by rapturous applause from his home fans and a guard of honour from the assembled pitlane would have been a fitting send-off for the magnanimous Brazilian. Whilst the domino-effect triggered by Rosberg’s bombshell retirement gave Felipe a reprieve from his retirement slippers for 2017, it is a shame that Massa has recently chosen to speak out against the candidates to succeed him in 2018. No F1 career lasts forever.
However, di Resta and Kubica will hopefully not be the main topics of conversation come next weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix. Instead the focus should be on a career where Massa’s esteem as a driver was surpassed only by his esteem as a friend; a career where the highs and the lows where separated by several fateful seconds in 2008:
