My liking of Massa
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My favourite driver is Felipe Massa as many people might know. I only started watching Formula 1 at the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix, but it wasn’t until the British Grand Prix that he cought my eye. I saw him going through Maggots and Becketts and immediately liked him. When I researched his past even more, I felt extremely sorry for him. 2008, the accident, Hockenheim, he’s been through a lot. I am of the opinion that Ferrari have never supported him properly since his accident, and I look forward to his time at Williams. But, as it is his last race for Ferrari, I thought we could all share our favourite moments of him at Ferrari, no negativity please. My favourite in my short time watching? Italy 2012, when he had a great qualifying, great start, and just lost out on the podium because, of course, Alonso must finish ahead. Thanks for all the great times Felipe, the best driver in the paddock, and good luck at Williams.
Rick
As a Brazillian I was very happy with his first Interlagos victory in 2006, even though I’m not his fan. And of course, the 2008 Brazillian GP will probably be forever etched in my memory. I will never forget his gracefulness in that podium cerimony.
I’ve always supported Massa and him being at Ferrari has been a dream for me. I have lots of fond memories – one of my smuggest though was at China in the wet in 09 because he was showing everyone how brilliant he could be when it wasn’t dry and then, rather predictably, his car died. That right there sums up his career – brilliant potential and awful circumstances/luck.
To be honest though Felipe’s biggest achievements probably have to be either outqualifying Alonso in Bahrain in 2010 or leading the race in Germany that year. To come back from a traumatic head injury and be that competitive again in such a short time (Sid Watkins said he expected his injuries to fully heal in 2 years) was amazing and he did it with the honour and class I think every F1 fan has come to expect from him.
Nice idea for a thread by the way.
It would be funny if Williams built a world championship car next year :-)
…and Bottas won the title ;-)
I started watching F1 during the 2009 season. I think my first race was the German GP at the Nurburgring and Ferrari were in the doldrums at the time. So here I was watching the race unfold before me and this guy in the Ferrari with the lime/green bright helmet caught my attention and I still can’t explain why to be honest. For some reason I wanted this guy to succeed even though I had never watched an F1 race prior to that day. I was ecstatic when he made the podium in that Ferrari.
But then tragedy struck. I can’t remember whether it was the following race the next week but I vividly recall his dreadful crash at the Hungaroring. I was devastated and I genuinely feared he was going to die. However, his accident made my support for him grow as I quickly realised just how quickly things could change in life and Massa unfortunately was an example of this fact. So I just thought that it could only take a short time before he would win races again. But for the rest of the Hungarian GP I was deeply concerned and also feared he may never be the same.
I went and did done some research on the man himself and I learned more about his Sauber career and that I had missed out what happened the year before at his home race in Brazil when he lost the championship in such a cruel manner made my support for him grow even more. The way he dignified himself after the race for me simply has to rank amongst the greatest moments in F1 history. It was just so refreshing to see someone accept defeat and be so magnanimous rather than the silly mind games and sore loser attitude we tend to get from so called “champions” on the grid today.
Anyway, recent seasons have been tough. But I think the criticism he has received has been too harsh but such is the way of F1. I was massively dissapointed during the German GP in 2010 when he had to surrender a win I was sure he was going to get. I’ve been puzzled as to where the combative racer of old had gone to. It came back at the end of 2012 where some of his driving was insane. I remember how well he helped Alonso at his home race and how brilliant his comeback drive in Singapore was that season.
Moving to Williams I think couldn’t have been a better Idea in my opinion. He needs a new environment and new motivations. I disagree completely with people who say It’s a step backward when really in life you need to go back to basics in order to progress. He will have a good team of people around him without having a world champion teammate for once!
I think he’s fully capable of challenging for a podium or even a race win next season!
Im delighted to find so many other Massa fans. I thought I was the only one! @Steph thx, I can’t believe it’s his last with Ferrari!
I am also a Massa fan. The first race I watched properly was Abu Dhabi 2010 which I remember well. the next year although I meant to watch from the first race of; as I had only seen 1 race prior my interest was slightly lower, I watched the 2011 Monaco Grand Prix in which Massa was hit by Hamilton and crashed through going the tunnel. I Remember well though the reason he stood out was the bright green against the red, incredibly recognisable and I loved the aesthetics. I am only 19 and asked my dad about Massa; who watched f1 in the days of Jimmy Clark although since ground effects his interest got less but still some following vaguely ,he told me how about massa when he came in and after he got past some early career crashes was set to be very good.
After some research on him and seeing his title defeat and the spirit he showed I couldn’t help but like everything about the guy. His crash and recovery followed by the spirit crushing team orders from Ferrari and how he handled it all; not at all bitter but still happy and grateful to be where he is, is inspiring. He has to the nicest guy in the paddock and after what he has been through compared to most drivers I can only wish Williams give him a decent car and he can have the psychological pressures of everything Ferrari put on him wiped and drive like he once did.
I think Massa won a lot of fans after the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix.
How he handled himself on the podium in front of his home crowd after just missing out on winning the WDC was superb, even though you could see just how heart-breaking it was.I am still undecided about Massa (can’t remember if I watched a race pre 2010) as I have only seen him after his accident, but I would like to see how he does next year. He needs and new environment and Williams will be perfect for him, lets hope they make a car that can at least challenge for podiums.
I really hope that they find the form of Spain 2012.
I’ll post my first memory of Massa.
It was 2007, my new best friend, who I’d met at the start of Year 7, was passionate about F1 and Kimi Raikkonen. With Brazil approaching, I decided to watch the race to cheer for him and Ferrari. While I liked the team already, as I remembered having seen a few races in the past in the early-2000s, I didn’t support Kimi although at that point I was hoping he won the title, of course, as I knew his rivals were the McLarens. I’m not even sure I saw the whole race, but right at the last lap Massa was setting purple times in the first sectors and, although eventually he did not set the fastest lap, the Italian commentator duly pointed out: “He wants to leave his sign too, and he has been very important, especially in the teamwork, Felipe, who has just renewed.” At that point I realised Massa was capable of winning the race, but was also helping his team mate win the title once his own chances had gone. In a few words, he was fast and helpful, and I thought that to let a World Champion finish ahead of him he must have been phenomenal. I watched the race to cheer for Kimi, and ended up supporting Felipe. From that day, 21 October 2007, I have been a Massa fan, and although I don’t quite remember how many races I saw in 2008, I surely followed the season finale, with a situation which mirrored incredibly the previous year’s one. I was ecstatic when Felipe crossed the line, and the Ferrari mechanics exulting and then suddenly realising they’d lost were a copy of my feelings broadcast live on television. That sad evening, 2 November 2008, was when I decided to follow Felipe much more closely, and since then I only missed two Grands Prix – coincidentally, the first of them was Germany 2010, and I felt a bit guilty to have missed out seeing my hero lead the race – and went through his good and bad times, like his great return at the start of 2010, when he led the championship, and his crash at the Hungaroring.
My entire F1-watching spell has been characterised by supporting Massa, and although I will have a new driver to support once he retires (right now it would be Hulkenberg) no one will replace Felipe as my all-time favourite. Here’s hoping that the time he still has in F1 can bring more successes to his palmarés.the first race i watched in f1 was turkey 2006 and i saw massa win and from that moment i have supported him ever since. His win at brazil in 06 was also special.
in 07 i remember his battle with kubica at fuji 07 was fun to watch(saw an onboard few years after)and how good he was at istambull.
in 08 he was awsome in quali like his monaco lap. Standout memories were his double pass at canada, his start at hungary, his move on webber into t1 at fuji 08(just mising the wall) and his flawluss drive at brazil.(that race was the best ive watched because of the tention in the last laps)also him on the podium aswell.
in 09 his start at australis was awasome 6th to 3rd, his monaco overtake on vettel was cool,his 4th place at silverstone was good and he got on the podium in nurburgring was really good.
in 2010 he had a good start 2nd at bahrain 3rd at aus and beating alonzo again at malaysia but after anlonzos ruthless overtake into pitlane at china thats where it all went wrong for felipe and started the downward spiral and germany would have destroyed massa mentaly.
in 2011 only standout things were his starts and his last lap canada battle with kobayshi.
in 2012 terrible start but from monaco he kept improving getting qucker pulling some good overtakes such as schumi at silverstone,senna at singapore.his starts at japan,monza and brazil were highlights of the season. His podiums at japan 4th at austin and 3rd in brazil were also standout moments
2013 he has had pace all year but bad luck and broken car and other circumstances have ruined his season. But his start at silverstone 11th to 6th was start of the year(shame we didnt see an onboard)
bad moments: mistakes at malaysia,monaco,fuji,singapore in 08,hungary crash in 09, germany 2010, monaco,india 2011, australia 2012 and 2013 crash at monaco,montreal q,germany and being screwed by the team muliplle time to favour alonso like abu dhabi.
theese are my memories and im realy looking forward to next year at williams and i wil still support him.
Much like Barrichello before him, I kind of have a love/hate relationship with Massa. When he entered the sport in 2002, he was expected to be a new Raikkonen. Clearly, that wasn’t the case and his debut season was somewhat messy. When he came back in 2004, he had clearly improved, but got into a few incidents, which continued in 2005. I felt he wasn’t the best driver Ferrari could have signed in 2006, but was impressed with his first season in red. His win in Turkey was nothing short of awesome.
In 2007 he had a hard time with Raikkonen, but in my eyes, he was one of the top 4 drivers on the grid. In 2008 he really stood out, beating Raikkonen and keeping Hamilton in check. As a Ferrari fan, I of course lamented the loss of the WDC, but even though he impressed me a lot, I still wouldn’t call myself a fan. He went on to out-do Raikkonen in 2009 too, which had more effect on my liking of Raikkonen than on my liking of Massa.
After 2010, though, it’s like he fell off. I hope he proves me wrong next year, but I think he’s lost what he had before his accident and even in 2010. I don’t think he deserved the Ferrari seat based on his performances in 2011 and 2012. But I wonder what he can do at Williams and wouldn’t be surprised if he, like Barrichello, can win me over at another team.
He sacrificed a win to help Kimi secure the championship in Brazil 2007.
He sacrificed another win to help Alonso in his championship quest in Hockenheim 2010.
He allowed the team to drop him 5 places down the grid to help Alonso in USA 2012.
He let Alonso through in his home race in Brazil 2013.Has there ever been a bigger team player than Massa in the history of the sport? I don’t think so, I can’t think of one. Felipe always put the interest of the team above his own, that’s what I liked about him most.
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