2004 Drivers Part 2 of 3 - Felipe Massa
Felipe is back
By Jamie Makin (8/1/2004)
January 10 2004
Peter Sauber has a knack for spotting young talent, having recently given Kimi Raikkonen his start in 2001. To replace Raikkonen, who had moved to McLaren in 2002, Sauber found a talented 20 year old Brazilian named Felipe Massa.
Massa's road to Formula One was similar to many of today's other successful drivers by starting in local karting events at the age of nine. He spent the next seven years karting until moving up to the Brazilian Formula Chevrolet Championship in 1998. He only claimed fifth place in his first year, but succeeding in winning the championship in 1999. Then he made the big move to Europe. In his debut in 2000 he won both the Italian and European Formula Renault Championships. 2001 saw him move up to dominate the European Formula 3000 Championship, winning six out of the eight races.
His first season in Formula One in 2002 was not as successful as his past three years. He had several testing shunts before the season even started, leading many to question his readiness for Formula One. In his first grand prix in Australia, he got caught up in the big first turn accident and never got a chance to complete a racing lap. The next race in Malaysia brought him better luck and he took sixth place and his first championship point. The rest of the season was a mix of highs and lows for Massa. He had eight DNF's total, half of which mechanical failures. But when he finished, he finished strong. Of his eight finishes, he was never lower than ninth place. He claimed three additional points with a fifth place finish in Spain and sixth at the Nurburgring. What he lacked in consistency he made up for in raw speed.
Towards the end of the season, things were looking grim for the Brazilian rookie. Massa became very outspoken against the team after the German grand prix when they ordered him to pull over to let Heidfeld pass for the final points paying position. Sauber also was quick to sign veteran Heinz-Harald Frentzen to replace Massa for 2003. At the Italian grand prix, the stewards declared it was Massa who caused an avoidable accident with Pedro De La Rosa's Jaguar and Massa became the first driver to be penalized by losing ten grid positions at the next race, the US grand prix. Sauber sidestepped the penalty by allowing Frentzen to race instead, while Massa could only watch it on television from his home in Brazil. Massa ended his difficult year in Japan by crashing out on his own early in the race.
At the end of the season, Peter Sauber offered Massa the role of test driver with the team which Massa quickly refused. When talks with other teams about a race seat yielded no results, Massa moved to Ferrari to become their second test driver. A year with the Italian team has proven very valuable to Massa. He has honed his skills by learning with the best drivers today, Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello. He also holds the current lap record at Ferrari's private test track, Fiorano. Sauber monitored his progress throughout the 2003 season, and decided that his driving and his attitude had matured well enough to earn him back his race seat.
Felipe Massa returns to Sauber a changed man. If his consistency has improved, he should bring Sauber some excellent results in 2004. He tested the Sauber in Jerez in December and was quickly at home again with the team. He will also continue to test for Ferrari part time in 2004, which will bring Sauber a lot more insight into the workings of the reigning champions. While his contract with Sauber is for two years, it is believed that he will be able to move up to a race seat at Ferrari, should an opportunity open there.