Reader Rights: The People’s Champ signs off

Brazil has always produced great Formula One drivers be it the late great Ayrton Senna or Nelson Piquet or Rubens Barichello to name a few, but the racer that we are talking about here is Felipe Massa.

One of the first things that comes to mind when you mention Massa’s name is the 2008 Formula One World Championship. The huge roar of excitement from the crowd when he won the Brazilian Grand Prix and presumably the Drivers Championship.

But this would last only a few seconds as Lewis Hamilton on the last half of the last lap overtook Timo Glock to secure 5th place and win the championship by 1 point.

The agony and tears of disappointment on Massa’s face at the podium along with the 80,000 odd people on track that day is a scene we will always remember.

He started off his Formula One career with Sauber in 2002. In 2006 he signed up for a team which any Formula One driver dreams to race for, Ferrari.

He partnered the great Michael Schumacher in his debut season with Ferrari. His 2008 season with Ferrari was the most memorable one. In 2009, Massa suffered a life threatening injury in qualifying at the Hungaroring when he was hit by a spring from the car in front and crashed into the barriers at a very high speed.

That tragic incident ended his 2009 season. A gritty Massa never gave up and recovered in time for the 2010 season. This, in spite of him having suffered from a fractured skull.

In 2014 he signed with Williams to race alongside Valtteri Bottas. After three seasons of racing at Williams, Massa has finally decided to retire from Formula one at the end of this season.

He currently has 11 Grand Prix wins, 16 pole positions and he would be eagerly hoping to add to one of those tallies with eight races left. He couldn’t manage to win the Drivers Championship but definitely won the hearts of all Formula One fans.

Of late we see a lot of videos of Massa racing with his son Felipinho. We thank Massa for giving a lot of entertainment in his career and wish him the best for his future endeavours and we also hope that his son Felipinho one day becomes a great Formula One driver just like his father.