(born
April 25 ,
1981 ) is a
Brazilian Formula One racing driver, currently employed by
Ferrari as team-mate to seven times world champion
Michael Schumacher .
Born in
São Paulo ,
Brazil , Massa began
Karting when he was 9 years old, finishing fourth in his first season. He continued in national and international championships for 7 years, and in
1998 he moved into
Formula Chevrolet , finishing the Brazilian championship in fifth. In the next season, he won 3 of the 10 races and took the championship. In
2000 , he moved to
Europe to compete in the
Italian Formula Renault series, winning both it and the European Formula Renault championship in the same year. Whilst having the opportunity to move into
Formula 3 , he opted instead for the
Formula 3000 Euro-Series, and was dominant, winning 6 of the 8 races to take the championship. He was offered an F1 test with the
Sauber team, who promptly signed him for 2002. In the meantime he guested for
Alfa Romeo in the
European Touring Car series.
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His debut season of F1 saw him paired with ex-F3000 champion
Nick Heidfeld . Whilst showing that he definitely had pace, Massa made several mistakes and spun off the track on many occasions. He managed to score 4 championship points, including a 5th place finish at the
Spanish Grand Prix at the
Circuit De Catalunya . Late in the season he received a penalty for the
United States Grand Prix , and thus Sauber brought in
Heinz-Harald Frentzen , their former driver. Massa returned for
Suzuka , but Frentzen was already confirmed as Heidfeld's team-mate for 2003. Having been denied a
Jordan race seat, Massa moved to Ferrari as a test driver. Having impressed the team, and showing signs that his mistake rate had declined, Massa was re-signed by the Sauber team for
2004 , alongside
Giancarlo Fisichella . He had a good season, scoring 12 of the team's 34 points - highlighted by a career-best 4th place at the
Belgian Grand Prix . Fisichella generally outperformed his Brazilian team-mate, but Massa on occasion demonstrated sound pace. In 2005 he remained with Sauber, but in an uneventful season was unable to score regular points. He managed to outpace second driver
Jacques Villeneuve over the course of the year, although the 1997 world champion was often the quicker of the two by the end of 2005. For 2006 Massa moved to Ferrari alongside
Schumacher .
He got off to a good start at
Ferrari , qualifying 2nd at the opening race in
Bahrain , and managing to come from almost the back of the grid, (21st), to 5th in Malaysia, beating Schumacher who started from 14th. However, in Bahrain, in both saturday practice and the race, he seemed to resume his tendancy to spin out in silly places, narrowly missing eventual winner
Fernando Alonso in the race. He kept up his reputation as being a bit on the wild side at the Australian GP when he crashed his
Ferrari in Qualifying and then also at the first corner in the race.
(Note: grands prix in denote '''points scoring''' races.)
