Felipe Massa has bowed out of Formula One after 269 grands prix, 11 victories and one of the most heartbreaking championship near-misses of all time.
The success he went on to enjoy might have surprised those who saw the occasionally wild driver who made his debut for Sauber 15 years ago. But even then there were glimmers of the potential which was realised once Ferrari’s faith in him was rewarded.
Here are some of the highlights from Massa’s career in pictures.
Sauber
When Massa arrived at Sauber in 2002 many wondered if he was another of Peter Sauber’s astute young signings in the same mould as his predecessor, Kimi Raikkonen. He turned out to be, and the pair later became team mates at Ferrari.
Go ad-free for just £1 per month
>> Find out more and sign up
After an occasionally wild debut season Massa spent 2003 as a Ferrari test driver. He then returned to race action and it soon became clear he had smoothed out the rough edges and was now a highly accomplished racer. Even so his promotion to Ferrari in 2006 surprised many.
Ferrari
Massa had one year racing alongside Michael Schumacher during which he was able to learn from the most successful driver in the sport’s history. He also became an F1 race winner for the first time, at Istanbul Park, and scored his first emotional triumph on home ground.
Another would have followed in 2007 but he had to let that one go in order to ensure new team mate Raikkonen won the title. Twelve months later another home win wasn’t quite enough to prevent Lewis Hamilton beating him to the championship.
That proved Massa’s final win. A serious crash in mid-2009 left him with head injuries and after his return to the cockpit in 2010 he rarely came close to winning again. An exception was at the Hockenheimring that year where Ferrari ordered him to let Fernando Alonso, his latest team mate, through to win. That set the tone for his three final years at Ferrari during which time Alonso was the dominant force.
Williams
At Williams, the now highly experienced Massa was paired with the upcoming talent of Valtteri Bottas. While the latter finished ahead in all three of their seasons together Massa often ran him close and gave the team its only pole position at the Red Bull Ring in 2014.
Massa intended to bow out after their third year together. But following an emotional farewell to his home fans at Interlagos, Bottas’s sudden promotion to Mercedes opened the door for Massa to return for a final season, again as the more experienced hand alongside rookie Lance Stroll.
Though he had little to show for this final year it might have been different had his car gone the distance at Baku, where a win was on the cards. Instead a fighting seventh at Brazil, where he was the first driver home not in one of the top teams’ cars, stood out as one of the highlights from his final year.
Felipe Massa quiz
How well do you know Massa’s F1 career? Take the F1 Fanatic Quiz here:
F1 pictures
- 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix practice in pictures
- First pictures from the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend
- 2024 Qatar Grand Prix in pictures
- Four special helmets for three drivers in Qatar as Gasly sports two new styles
- 2024 Qatar Grand Prix qualifying and sprint race day in pictures
Jere (@jerejj)
17th December 2017, 19:21
Only 1 out of the 22 drivers in the 2002 season-opening group photo is still competing in F1 as a full-time driver today.
Watson
17th December 2017, 19:42
kimi
Egonovi
17th December 2017, 20:55
And I did not even recognise him.
Daniel
17th December 2017, 21:14
Raikkonen was also there, in silver overalls
Damon (@damon)
18th December 2017, 9:15
But how many of them are still active racing drivers? Quite a few actually :)
Raikonnen – F1
Heidfeld – Formula E
Takuma Sato – IndyCar
Montoya – some Indycar and…?
Button – Super GT in 2018
Barrichello – Stock Car Brasil and LeMans 24
Fisichella – sports cars, e.g. LeMans 24
Villeneuve – last drove in 2016
Damon (@damon)
18th December 2017, 9:16
Any others??
Jere (@jerejj)
18th December 2017, 20:44
@damon Apart from the ones you’ve mentioned, I’m not sure.
Marco
20th December 2017, 20:45
Giancarlo Fisichella, GT
Marco
20th December 2017, 20:47
Sorry my bad, you got him…
Damon (@damon)
20th December 2017, 14:56
@keithcollantine
Wouldn’t this be a wonderful topic for a winter break article, Keith? :)
In the NBA (the US basketball league), there are currently still 2 players left that played in the 1990’s (Dirk Nowitzki and Vince Carter, who entered the league in 1998 and 1999, and are 39 and 40 years old respectively).
I wonder what that looks like for F1 drivers. How many former F1 drivers are still active, and which class from the past is best represented. Obviously it would be the most recent ones. But it’d interesting to see how far back we could go and find drivers who are still there.
Miltiadis (@miltosgreekfan)
17th December 2017, 20:59
The only thing that changed on Felipe all those years, is the bald he has those last 2 years :D
Jere (@jerejj)
18th December 2017, 20:45
@miltosgreekfan +1.
Backmarker
18th December 2017, 3:17
Decent driver and brilliant guy. He’ll be missed.
Sun Siyuan (@peking901)
18th December 2017, 5:54
One of my favorite drivers. Best wishes.
pSynrg (@psynrg)
18th December 2017, 12:48
I’ve watched probably 99% of live races in the time Massa has been an F1 driver.
Not once did I ever think, “Wow!”.
I always enjoyed listening to what he had to say though, usually happy to speak his mind. Yielding for “Alonso is faster than you”, a real low point…
Jere (@jerejj)
18th December 2017, 20:42
@psynrg +1.
steven
18th December 2017, 22:34
Pictures for Sauber have broken links.