Felipe Massa facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Felipe Massa
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Massa in 2022
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| Born | 25 April 1981 São Paulo, Brazil
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| Spouse(s) |
Anna Raffaela Bassi
(m. 2007) |
| Children | 1 |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  Brazilian |
| Active years | 2002, 2004–2017 |
| Teams | Sauber, Ferrari, Williams |
| Car number | 19 |
| Entries | 272 (269 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 11 |
| Podiums | 41 |
| Career points | 1167 |
| Pole positions | 16 |
| Fastest laps | 15 |
| First entry | 2002 Australian Grand Prix |
| First win | 2006 Turkish Grand Prix |
| Last win | 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix |
Felipe Massa (born 25 April 1981) is a Brazilian racing driver. He currently competes in the Stock Car Pro Series and the IMSA SportsCar Championship. Felipe Massa raced in Formula One from 2002 to 2017. He was almost the world champion in 2008 with Ferrari. He won 11 Grand Prix races during his 15 seasons in Formula One.
Felipe Massa: A Racing Star
Felipe Massa was born in São Paulo, Brazil. He grew up in Botucatu. His family has Italian roots. He started his racing journey very young.
Early Racing Days
Felipe began karting when he was just 8 years old. He quickly showed his talent. He won many national and regional championships.
In 1998, he moved to Formula Chevrolet. He finished fifth in the Brazilian championship. The next year, he won 3 out of 10 races. This made him the champion.
In 2000, Felipe moved to Europe. He raced in the Italian Formula Renault series. He won both the Italian and European Formula Renault championships that year. He then joined the Euro Formula 3000 series. In 2001, he won 6 out of 8 races. This made him the champion there too. These wins led to a Formula One test. He signed with the Sauber team for 2002.
Formula One Journey
Felipe Massa's Formula One career began in 2002. He raced for three different teams. These were Sauber, Ferrari, and Williams.
Sauber Years (2002, 2004–2005)
In 2002, Felipe joined Sauber. He was a rookie driver. He scored 4 points in his first season. His best finish was 5th place. He was replaced for one race in 2002. Then, he became a test driver for Ferrari in 2003. This helped him gain experience.
Felipe returned to Sauber in 2004. He scored 12 points that year. His best result was 4th place. He stayed with Sauber in 2005. He outraced his teammate Jacques Villeneuve. After 2005, Ferrari offered him a spot. He joined Ferrari for the 2006 season.
Joining Ferrari (2006–2013)
Felipe joined Ferrari in 2006. He was teammates with Michael Schumacher. He earned his first podium finish at the Nürburgring. He finished third. He also got his first Formula One pole position and win in Turkey. This was at the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix.
In October 2006, Felipe won his home race. This was the 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix. He was the first Brazilian to win there since Ayrton Senna in 1993. He finished 2006 in third place overall.
2007 Season
The 2007 season started with some challenges. But Felipe quickly improved. He won races in Bahrain and Spain. He also finished on the podium in Monaco. He won again in Turkey. He finished second at his home race in Brazil. His teammate Kimi Räikkönen won the championship that year. Felipe finished 2007 in fourth place.
His Big Year: 2008
The 2008 season was very exciting for Felipe. He won six races. He won in Bahrain, Turkey, France, Europe, Belgium, and Brazil. He was fighting for the championship until the very last lap. He lost the title by just one point to Lewis Hamilton. This happened at the final race in Brazil.
Later, a problem from the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix came to light. Felipe believes this problem unfairly affected the championship outcome. He has taken steps to look into this further.
Injury in 2009
At the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, Felipe had a serious accident. A spring from another car hit his helmet. He was badly hurt and had to miss the rest of the season. He recovered well and returned to racing in 2010.
2010-2013 with Ferrari
Felipe returned to Ferrari in 2010. He partnered with Fernando Alonso. He had some good races. He finished on the podium five times in 2010. He helped Ferrari win two Constructors' Championships. He left Ferrari at the end of the 2013 season.
Williams Racing (2014–2017)
In 2014, Felipe joined Williams. He took his first pole position in six years in Austria. He also had several podium finishes. He finished third in Italy and Brazil in 2014. He finished second in Abu Dhabi.
In 2015, Felipe continued to perform well. He achieved two more podiums. These were in Austria and Italy. He finished the season in sixth place.
Felipe announced his retirement from Formula One at the end of 2016. However, he decided to return for 2017. This was because his teammate Valtteri Bottas moved to Mercedes. He raced one more season with Williams. He officially retired from Formula One at the end of 2017. He ended his F1 career with 11 wins and 41 podiums.
Other Racing Series
After Formula One, Felipe raced in Formula E. This is a championship for electric cars. He competed from 2018 to 2020 for Venturi.
He also started racing in the Stock Car Pro Series in Brazil in 2018. In 2023, he won his first races in this series. He also competed in the Porsche Cup Brasil and the IMSA SportsCar Championship.
Personal Life
Felipe Massa is married to Anna Raffaela Bassi. They got married in 2007. Their son, Felipinho, was born in 2009.
Felipe is a big fan of football. He supports the Brazilian team São Paulo FC. He also supports the Turkish team Fenerbahçe.
He used to host a charity kart race called Desafio Internacional das Estrelas. Many famous drivers took part in this event. He also served as president of the Commission Internationale de Karting. This is an important role in karting.
Felipe's racing helmet is blue with a bright yellow X on the sides. It also has a yellow triangle on top.
Images for kids
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Massa during a charity football match in Abu Dhabi
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Massa driving for Venturi at the 2020 Mexico City ePrix.
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Felipe Massa at his final F1 weekend at Yas Marina Circuit
