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Felipe began his racing career in karts at the age of nine, competing in national and international championships for seven years.
He won the Italian and European Formula Renault championship in 2000, before progressing to the Formula 3000 Euro-Series for the following year. He won the championship after winning six of the eight races, and was soon behind the wheel of the Sauber C20 at Mugello.
Having impressed the Swiss team with his feedback and speed, Massa was signed for the 2001 season, and the twenty year old made his Formula One debut as partner to Nick Heidfeld.
Depending on how you looked at it, Felipe Massa was either the biggest revelation of 2002 or the biggest disappointment. Ever since Kimi Raikkonen, another Sauber discovery, came into F1, there has been concern within the sport that some of the youngsters coming in haven't served the correct 'apprenticeship'. Certainly, some of Felipe's performances in 2002 gave such critics some useful ammunition.
Basically the Brazilian, though talented, was just a little too wild, getting into all manner of incidents, many of them unnecessary. At one race he span so many times that he admitted to giving himself a headache. As the season went on it was clear that he was getting on the nerves of his rivals, his team-mate, and more importantly his boss. Therefore it wasn't too surprising when Sauber decided to drop him in favour of Heinz-Harald Frentzen for 2003.
Sauber was keen to retain Felipe as test driver but the Brazilian wanted to race. As the number of vacant seats diminished it looked as though the Brazilian was out of luck, then suddenly he was being linked with the second seat at Jordan. However just as it seemed the deal was done, it all fell through and Ralph Firman took the final 'free' seat.
Then, twenty-four-hours before Ferrari was due to launch its 2003 contender, the Italian team revealed it had signed Felipe as test driver, somehow nobody seemed surprised. The Brazilian saw regular action throughout the year and was acknowledged by the Scuderia as having made a major contribution to its fifth successive Constructors' Championship and Michael Schumacher's record sixth title.
Throughout the year there were rumours regarding Felipe's F1 future. Some had him replacing Rubens Barrichello while the more fanciful had him taking Michael Schumacher's place should the German have opted to retire.
Ahead of the Japanese GP Sauber finally confirmed what many had believed all along, namely that Massa was returning to the Swiss team where his F1 adventure had begun, to link up with Giancarlo Fisichella.
Although the year with Ferrari appeared to have smoothed away some of the rough edges, it was clear that Felipe still had a lot to learn.
Admittedly the 'mistake-count' was down but the Brazilian still appeared to be 'on the edge' a little too often. As the season progressed however, Felipe appeared to re-discover himself, possibly the result of realising that he was constantly being outshone by his teammate.
At Monza he gave a strong performance, though the loss of a front wing following a collision with Nick Heidfeld saw him finish a lap down, while at Interlagos he was again on tremendous form.
In 2005, Felipe remained at Sauber, where he was to be partnered by Jacques Villeneuve, in what (on paper) was clearly one of the most tantalizing partnerships on the grid.
In the first few races, the Brazilian out-classed the former world Champion, to such an extent that certain sections of the (British) media were claiming that the Canadian might not see out the season, possibly to be replaced by Anthony Davidson, who according to one magazine was (seemingly) having seat fittings on a daily basis.
The truth is that other than the fact that the C24 was a poor car, Villeneuve was hindered by set-up problems, with the team refusing to allow the Canadian to have his own way. However, once the team relented, and the car was set-up to his liking, Villeneuve's performances improved.
Nonetheless, this shouldn't take anything away from Massa, who was one of the true 'finds' of 2005. Set-up or no set-up, the fact is that he out-qualified his illustrious teammate thirteen times.
Then there were the drives, particularly his progress through the field in Canada, where he finished fourth, despite the best efforts of Mark Webber.
His average qualifying position was eleventh, which totally flattered the car. Sadly, he was rarely able to convert his grid spots to points finishes, though this was not for want of trying.
The year with Ferrari did him well, for in 2005 it was clear that the Brazilian had matured, had learned from his mistakes, and basically lost much of the 'wildness'. Therefore, it came as no real surprise when he was called back to Maranello to replace Rubens Barrichello for 2006.
Largely due to Bridgestone's shortcomings, Felipe had a difficult start to the 2006 season, though qualifying second at Bahrain was the best possible way to get his Ferrari career off the ground. That said, in Melbourne, when he crashed in qualifying, then again in the first corner of the race, many wondered if the Brazilian's wild ways were truly behind him.
After Melbourne however, he appeared to settle down, qualifying well and, more importantly, bringing the 248 F1 home in the points.
His first podium came at the Nurburgring, where he finished third, followed by further visits in America, France and Germany. Then came Istanbul.
The Brazilian took pole, the first of his F1 career, and managed to convert this into his maiden Grand Prix win, even though everyone was waiting for Ferrari to 'make the call' forcing the youngster to give way to his teammate.
There was another win in Brazil, the first time a 'local' had won since Ayrton Senna in 1993, once again the youngster converting pole position to race victory. It was a faultless drive one which would have had Ayrton smiling.
The win was enough to give Felipe third place in the Drivers' Championship, edging out Giancarlo Fisichella.
Though there were moments when we wondered whether Felipe had truly changed his ways, Interlagos seemed to dispel the fears, it was a perfect performance.
Ahead of the 2007 season, it was widely speculated, though naturally denied by the team, that there might be a certain amount of favouritism towards Felipe within Ferrari, what with Jean Todt's son Nicholas being the Brazilian's manager. However, the truth is that the Maranello outfit treated both men equally and nobody, least of all the drivers, could have any complaints.
Of course, the situation wasn't helped when Raikkonen got his season off to a winning start in Melbourne, while Felipe, who suffered a gearbox problem in qualifying was subsequently demoted to the back of the grid as a result of an engine change. While the Finn sprayed the Champagne on the Melbourne podium, Felipe had to console himself with sixth place.
Three weeks later, Felipe appeared set to make up for the misery of Melbourne when he took a convincing pole at Sepang, however, a dreadful start saw him lose out to both Alonso and Hamilton, ending the day fifth and already losing ground in the Drivers' Championship.
In Bahrain and Spain however, things were altogether different, with Felipe taking two strong wins, followed by podium finishes in four of the next six races. Unfortunately, disqualification from the incident-filled Canadian GP - along with Fisichella he was found to have exited the pits whilst the pitlane was closed - cost him another possible podium.
Another error at Silverstone - he stalled on the grid - came at the time Raikkonen was finding his winning ways again, whilst a refuelling farce in qualifying in Hungary was to cost him dear, the Brazilian struggling next day to finish thirteenth.
Although he enjoyed victory in Turkey, retirement at Monza - his car suffering at the hands of the unforgiving kerbs - appeared to signal the end of his championship bid. Any real hope of a late title assault was finally killed off by a tyre error in Japan, which resulted in an extra pit stop and Felipe was lucky salvage three points for sixth.
At season end, Felipe finished fourth, while his teammate staged an amazing comeback to steal the title at the eleventh hour.
Yes, Felipe made mistakes, some of them almost unforgivable for a driver of his experience, however, his team also screwed up, not only in terms of reliability but also in terms of doing the job well.
Even though his teammate was defending the title in 2008, Ferrari promised that there would be no favouritism. With this in mind, we wrote at ahead of the new season that "providing Felipe and his team have learned from their lessons it could be an exciting year with the little guy from Sao Paulo thus giving Brazil its first title since Ayrton Senna in 1991". How near to the truth we were.
Sadly however, while Felipe upped his game, and how, his team continued to let him down, both in terms of reliability, strategy and in some cases downright stupidity.
His season got off to the worst possible start in Melbourne. Having qualified fourth, he span off at the first corner, and though able to resume he subsequently collided with David Coulthard before suffering an engine failure later in the race.
A couple of weeks later in Malaysia, Felipe took pole, however, despite leading for the first part of the race he was overtaken by his teammate during the first round of pit stops. He was chasing Raikkonen, and still in contention for the win when he spun off on lap 31.
Then began a series of strong results which saw the Brazilian take three wins, scoring podium finishes in five of six races.
While Silverstone was a debacle, Felipe seemingly falling to pieces, spinning so many times it was impossible to keep count, he was cruelly robbed of a fine win in Hungary when his engine failed three laps from the end.
Earlier in the race in Hungary, we had seen Felipe make an audacious move, going around the outside of Hamilton in the first corner to take the lead. It was a move that typified the 'new improved' Massa, a man who finally appeared to be a genuine title contender.
An unconvincing drive in Germany was followed by an excellent win in the inaugural Grand Prix on the streets of Valencia. This was followed by victory in Belgium, albeit a win by default - default of a controversial decision by the Race Stewards - which left the Brazilian trailing Hamilton by just 2 points.
An uninspired drive, not to mention poor strategy, saw him finish 6th in Italy, while he had every right to feel aggrieved in Singapore when a catalogue of errors by his team robbed him of certain victory and possibly the title.
There was further controversy in Japan when, having struggled to qualify fifth, he collided with Hamilton, the Englishman having previously been involved in an incident with Raikkonen. The Brazilian received a drive-through penalty and it was only a gutsy determined drive - plus another odd decision from the Race Stewards who penalized Sebastien Bourdais for what appeared a legitimate move - that allowed the Brazilian to pick up two vital points.
China was a strange weekend for the championship hopeful, other than obvious tyre issues the Brazilian appeared to be 'off the boil'. Nonetheless, Raikkonen - having a good weekend - 'yielded' second place to his teammate in the closing stages, thereby keeping his championship dream alive, but only just.
Felipe headed to Brazil knowing exactly what he had to do, and he did it. What happened that incredible afternoon has passed into Formula One, indeed sporting, folklore.
Ignoring the total effort that Felipe put into his entire race weekend, the other thing that stands out is his dignity having won and lost the crown in a matter of moments. One shudders to think how some previous 'stars' might have handled the situation.
The history books will show that Felipe finished second in the 2008 Formula One World Championship, beaten by the youngest driver ever to lift the crown, the first black F1 champion. However, his performance and dignity that damp afternoon must never be forgotten.
While he lost the title, he won the respect of race fans, who finally saw that the boy had become a man, that finally Brazil had a driver fully capable of winning the title. Bad luck, a few moments of silliness, poor reliability and some poor strategy cost Felipe dearly. However, if Ferrari can get its actor together in 2009, the Brazilian is fully capable of taking up where he left off in 2008.
Statistics - Prior to 2009 Season
Drivers' Titles: 0
Seasons in F1: 6
Grand Prix: 105
Wins: 11
Points: 298
Poles: 15
Fastest Laps: 11
Best result in 2008: 1st (6 times)
Best qualifying 2008: Pole (6 times)
Worst qualifying 2008: 9th Britain
Average grid position 2008: 2.94
2008: Out-qualified Kimi Raikkonen 12 times
2008: Out-qualified by Kimi Raikkonen 6 times
2008: Completed: 1057 out of 1117 laps (94.6%)
2008: Finished 16 times from 18 starts (89%)
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