Felipe Massa

Felipe Massa

Name: Felipe Massa

Nationality: Brazil

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Once regarded as Formula One's 'enfant terrible', Felipe Massa has come into his own with Ferrari and proved to be the team's number one challenger during the 2008 Formula One campaign.

While the season ended in cruel circumstances - Massa denied the title by Lewis Hamilton on the final lap of the final race - 2008 was also the year when the Brazilian proved that he deserves to be considered part of the sport's elite.

However, the Brazilian was lucky to escape with his life following a freak accident at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix - Massa suffering head injuries after being hit by a suspension spring which had fallen from another car.

He is currently recuperating, with Ferrari expecting him to return in time for the 2010 season.

Massa joined the F1 grid with Sauber in 2002. Team boss Peter Sauber had astutely signed the unheralded Kimi Raikkonen the previous year, the Finn immediately revealing himself as a star of the future.

However, Massa proved more wild than wonderful 12 months on and although he got very close to Nick Heidfeld's performances, he was guilty of overdriving the Sauber C21.

As it was, Sauber signed up Heinz-Harald Frentzen for 2003, offering Massa the role of test driver, which he declined in favour of a similar position at Ferrari.

Following a season of testing for the Scuderia, Massa was once again confirmed as a Sauber driver for 2004 - the suggestion being that Ferrari had engineered the move to give him more experience before rejoining them at a later stage.

After struggling to match Giancarlo Fisichella that year, Felipe remained with Sauber in 2005 where he was joined by Jacques Villeneuve.

With the 1997 World Champion providing a yardstick, Massa now had the chance to really demonstrate his talent.

He largely had the upper hand on race weekends. However, had it not been for his sixth-placed finish in Bahrain, Felipe would have spent the entire season trailing Villeneuve in the points table.

Nevertheless, his performances had been noted and his reward was considerable: a race seat with Ferrari as a replacement for the outgoing Rubens Barrichello.

Alongside Michael Schumacher, 2006 was to prove the pivotal season in Massa's developing career.

After a slow start, Felipe was soon challenging the seven-times World Champion Schumacher in both qualifying and the races.

He claimed three pole positions and, more importantly, two victories in Turkey and Brazil.

The latter win enabled him to become the first Brazilian since Ayrton Senna to take victory in his home race.

A third-placed finish in the Drivers' Championship saw him finish the season ahead of his next team-mate: Raikkonen.

However, the tables were turned in 2007, with Massa finishing fourth in the standings while Raikkonen clinched the Drivers' Championship title.

Although he claimed three wins and an additional eight podium finishes, Massa found himself out of the title race with three races remaining.

From there on in his role was to support Raikkonen, which he did admirably, giving up the chance of a second straight win in Brazil in order to ensure his team-mate clinched the title.

However, in 2008 it was Massa who emerged as Ferrari's number one driver, despite a shaky start to the campaign that even led to calls for the Scuderia to sack him.

Failing to score a single point in the first two races, Massa soon found himself suffering at the hands of an Italian press pack who reckoned his days were numbered.

He promptly returned to form - and approval - with victory at the Bahrain GP and added two more wins, in Turkey and France, in the next five races.

Firmly back in the title hunt after scoring victory in France, Massa then had a woeful British GP, finishing 13th and last on the track after spinning five times in wet conditions.

Championship rival Lewis Hamilton passed him on his way to victory in the German GP, with Massa then suffering an engine failure just two laps from a dominant victory in Hungary.

He fought back with wins in Valencia and at the Belgian GP - the latter handed to him amidst controversy after Hamilton was penalised for gaining an unfair advantage over Raikkonen.

Massa was set for a dominant win in Singapore, but instead ended the race pointless when, amid farcical scenes, a botched pit stop saw him drive off with the fuel hose still attached to his car.

With Raikkonen by now supporting his title bid, Massa headed to Brazil needing to win the race and have Hamilton finish sixth or lower to clinch the title.

Even though he did everything asked of him, Hamilton's last-gasp fifth place saw the McLaren driver take the title by a single point.

The Brazilian's dignity in defeat, however, served to underline just how impressive his season had been - and how far he had come from the wild days of 2002.