Felipe Massa

Felipe Massa is a Brazilian Formula One driver of Italian descent who is contracted to Ferrari until the conclusion of the 2010 Formula One season. Massa began his racing career at the age of 8, participating in Kart racing and finishing 4th during his first season in the sport.

Nationality: Brazilian
Date of Birth: 25/04/1981
Team: Ferrari
World Championship Titles: 0
First Race: 2002 Australian Grand Prix
First Win: 2006 Canadian Grand Prix
Car Number: 7
2009 Championship Position: 11th

Massa moved to Formula Chevrolet racing in 1998, and enjoyed modest success in this Brazilian racing series before making the decision to race in the Italian Formula Renault series. Massa began racing in Formula Renault in 2000, winning the series at first attempt.

In 2001 Felipe Massa moved to the Formula 3000 Euro-Series, winning his second championship and also landing a test with the Sauber racing team, who subsequently signed him on as a racing driver for the 2002 Formula One season.

Massa’s first season in Formula One racing was a disappointment, as a series of costly errors cost him his position as racing driver. The Brazilian spent a year on the sidelines as a test driver, before winning his Sauber seat back for the 2004 season.

In 2006 Felipe Massa was signed on by Ferrari to partner Michael Schumacher. This move helped him to win his first Grand Prix in Turkey and finish the season in 3rd place. Since Schumacher’s retirement, Massa has performed consistently, and despite a tendency to spin his car, makes regular appearances on the podium.

The 2008 Formula One season saw Felipe Massa come within one lap of winning the Drivers Championship. However, it was not to be for Massa, as Lewis Hamilton clinched the title on the final lap of the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix. Despite losing out on the title, Massa finished the season with more race wins than Hamilton, having won 6 races to Hamilton’s 5.

Massa experienced more misfortune in 2009. The Brazilian looked to be recovering some of his best form after a slow start to the season, but suffered a serious crash in the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix. The incident resulted in Massa missing the remainder of the 2009 Formula One season for Ferrari.

Formula One Rankings
Position Driver Pts
1Sebastian Vettel
(Red Bull-Renault)		392
2Jenson Button
(McLaren-Mercedes)		270
3Mark Webber
(Red Bull-Renault)		258
4Fernando Alonso
(Ferrari)		257
5Lewis Hamilton
(McLaren-Mercedes)		227
6Felipe Massa
(Ferrari)		118
7Nico Rosberg
(Mercedes GP)		89
8Michael Schumacher
(Mercedes GP)		76
9Adrian Sutil
(Force India-Mercedes)		42
10Vitaly Petrov
(Renault)		37
11Nick Heidfeld
(Renault)		34
12Kamui Kobayashi
(Sauber)		30
13Paul Di Resta
(Force India-Mercedes)		27
14Jaime Alguersuari
(Toro Rosso-Ferrari)		26
15Sebastien Buemi
(Toro Rosso-Ferrari)		15
16Sergio Perez
(Sauber)		14
17Rubens Barrichello
(Williams-Cosworth)		4
18Bruno Senna
(Renault)		2
19Pastor Maldonado
(Williams-Cosworth)		1
20Pedro de la Rosa
(Sauber)		0
21Jarno Trulli
(Lotus-Renault)		0
22Heikki Kovalainen
(Lotus-Renault)		0
23Vitantonio Liuzzi
(HRT-Cosworth)		0
24Jerome d'Ambrosio
(Virgin-Cosworth)		0
25Timo Glock
(Virgin-Cosworth)		0
26Daniel Ricciardo
(HRT-Cosworth)		0
27Narain Karthikeyan
(HRT-Cosworth)		0
28Karun Chandhok
(Lotus-Renault)		0
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