The drivers

At the age of nine the Brazilian driver was already behind a wheel. After his successes in kart racing he participated in the Brazilian Championship of the Formula Chevrolet, winning the title one year later, in 1999.

Felipe’s successes continued as he took part and won the Italian Formula Renault Championship in 2000. The following year he won the European F3000 Championship. In 2001 he signed a contract with Ferrari and tested for the first time behind the wheel of a Formula 1 single-seater, with Sauber. In the year 2002 Felipe had his debut in the world of Formula 1 at the Australian GP with Sauber-Petronas. At the end of the season he had gained four points and started his work as Ferrari test-driver, his full-time occupation in the following season.

In the following season he was back at Sauber-Petronas, where he had signed a two-year contract. In 2006 he finally had the opportunity to race for the Scuderia Ferrari and won two races including his home Grand Prix becoming the first Brazilian since Ayrton Senna. He almost won the 2008 Drivers’ World Championship after a long title battle with Lewis Hamilton, but finally ended the season on the second place, just one point behind Hamilton.

This year, Massa will start his eight season with Scuderia Ferrari driving the car number 4 alongside Fernando Alonso.