Felipe Massa facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Felipe Massa
Massa in 2022
Born	(1981-04-25) 25 April 1981 (age 44) São Paulo, Brazil
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 competed in Formula One from 2002 to 2017. He was almost the world champion in 2008 with Ferrari. Felipe won 11 Grand Prix races during his 15 seasons in Formula One.

After Formula One, Felipe raced in Formula E and now competes in the Stock Car Pro Series in Brazil. He also races in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Riley.

Early Life and Junior Racing

Felipe Massa was born in São Paulo, Brazil. He grew up in Botucatu, a town in the countryside of São Paulo state. His family has Italian roots.

He started karting when he was just eight years old. He quickly became good at it, winning national and regional championships. In 1998, he moved into Formula Chevrolet. He won that championship in 1999.

In 2000, Felipe moved to Europe to race in the Italian Formula Renault series. He won both the Italian and European Formula Renault championships that year. In 2001, he won the Euro Formula 3000 Championship. His success led to a test drive with the Sauber Formula One team. They signed him for the 2002 season.

Formula One Career

Sauber Team (2002, 2004–2005)

Massa driving for Sauber at the 2005 British Grand Prix

Felipe Massa started his Formula One journey with the Sauber team in 2002. He showed he was a fast driver, but sometimes made mistakes. In his first season, he scored 4 championship points. His best finish was 5th place at the 2002 Spanish Grand Prix.

He left Sauber for a year in 2003 to become a test driver for Ferrari. This helped him gain valuable experience. Felipe returned to Sauber for the 2004 and 2005 seasons. He continued to show his speed, often outperforming his teammate.

Racing for Ferrari (2006–2013)

First Wins and Title Fight (2006–2008)

Massa celebrating victory at the 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix

In 2006, Felipe Massa joined Ferrari as a full-time driver. He earned his first Formula One podium finish at the Nürburgring. Later that year, he achieved his first pole position and first win at the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix. He also won his home race, the 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix. This made him the first Brazilian to win at Interlagos since Ayrton Senna in 1993. He finished the season in third place overall.

The 2007 season saw Felipe win two races from pole position. He also had many podium finishes. He played a key role in helping his teammate, Kimi Räikkönen, win the championship. Felipe finished fourth in the standings.

The 2008 season was very exciting for Felipe. He won six races and fought for the championship until the very last lap of the final race. He lost the title to Lewis Hamilton by just one point. This was one of the closest championship finishes in Formula One history. There was a later disagreement about the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, which Felipe believes affected the championship outcome. He has been looking into this matter.

Injury and Return (2009–2013)

Massa at the 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix.

In 2009, Felipe Massa had a serious accident during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix. A spring from another car hit his helmet. He was seriously injured and had to miss the rest of the season to recover. Many people, including his former teammate Michael Schumacher, offered to help.

Felipe made a strong return to Ferrari in 2010. He started the season well, even leading the championship briefly. However, a controversial team strategy at the German Grand Prix saw him allow his teammate, Fernando Alonso, to pass him. This moment caused a lot of discussion.

Massa at the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix.

For the next few seasons (2011-2013), Felipe continued to race for Ferrari. He had some good races and podium finishes. He helped Ferrari win two Constructors' Championships, which is the team championship. At the end of 2013, Felipe announced he would be leaving Ferrari.

Williams Team (2014–2017)

Massa at the 2014 Chinese Grand Prix.

In 2014, Felipe Massa joined the Williams team. He quickly showed his speed, taking his first pole position in six years at the 2014 Austrian Grand Prix. He also achieved several podium finishes with Williams. His first podium with the team was at the 2014 Italian Grand Prix. He finished the 2014 season strongly with a second-place finish in Abu Dhabi.

Massa leading Fernando Alonso at the 2015 Canadian Grand Prix

Felipe continued to race well for Williams in 2015 and 2016. He earned more podiums and consistently scored points. In 2016, he announced he would retire from Formula One at the end of the season. However, he postponed his retirement for one more year in 2017. This was because his teammate, Valtteri Bottas, moved to Mercedes. Felipe helped Williams for one more season before finally retiring from Formula One at the end of 2017. He finished his F1 career with 11 wins, 16 pole positions, 15 fastest laps, and 41 podiums.

Life After Formula One

Formula E Racing

Massa driving for Venturi at the 2020 Mexico City ePrix.

After leaving Formula One, Felipe Massa joined Formula E in 2018. This is a racing series for electric cars. He raced for the Venturi team for two seasons, from 2018 to 2020. He achieved one podium finish in Formula E.

Stock Car Pro Series

Since 2018, Felipe has also been competing in the Stock Car Pro Series in Brazil. This is a popular touring car championship. In 2023, he had a very successful year, winning two races and getting five podiums. He finished 10th in the championship that year. In 2024, he continued his strong performance, securing a win and several podiums, finishing 2nd overall.

Other Racing and Roles

Felipe also raced in the Porsche Carrera Cup Brasil in 2020. He has been involved in karting, too. He used to host a charity kart race called Desafio Internacional das Estrelas. From 2017 to 2022, he was the president of the Commission Internationale de Karting. He then became the president of the FIA Drivers' Commission.

Personal Life

Felipe Massa married Anna Raffaela Bassi in 2007. They have one son, Felipinho, who was born in 2009.

Felipe is a friend of the watchmaker Richard Mille, who has created special watches named after him. His manager is Nicolas Todt, the son of former Ferrari team principal Jean Todt.

Felipe is a big fan of Brazilian football team São Paulo FC. He also supports the Turkish football team Fenerbahçe.

In 2012, Felipe took part in a world record event at Silverstone. 964 Ferrari cars gathered on the track, a huge sight for 25,000 fans.

Helmet Design

Massa's helmet from 2010 at Ferrari

Felipe Massa's racing helmet usually featured a blue base with a bright fluorescent yellow 'X' shape on the sides. The top part of the helmet had a yellow triangle with a green fading effect. In his early years at Ferrari, his helmet also had a white ring around the top. For his 100th race with Ferrari in 2011, he had a special chrome and gold design with a prancing horse logo.

Racing Records

Career Summary

^† As Massa was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.
^* Season still in progress.

Complete Formula One Results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

^† Driver failed to finish the race, but was classified as they had completed more than 90% of the race distance.

See also

In Spanish: Felipe Massa para niños