Felipe Massa. Great guy, a gentlemen. Part of a legendary history of Brazilian drivers who have won Grand Prix, with the likes of Emerson Fittipaldi, Nelson Piquet, and of course the great one himself, Ayrton Senna.
He is without doubt a great F1 driver. He has great ability behind the wheel, and works well with his engineers. When he is out in front of a Grand Prix, he can waltz away without anyone having the pace to catch him.
He even reminds me of Schumacher when he used to get out in front, and just drive off into the distance.
I have been watching him since his first race, which was at Melbourne in 2002. He debuted for the then-Sauber F1 team, who were powered by Ferrari, of course, with the engines re-badged as Petronas. (The Sauber also looked a lot like the Ferrari!)
His first season was a little ragged, making a lot of errors and frequently being beaten by his teammate Nick Heidfeld. But apart from these errors, you still got the feeling he had the talent and the capability to drive an F1 car very fast.
Massa ended up with four points for that season, and his highest finish was fifth place at the Spanish Grand Prix.
After his first season in F1, he went to Ferrari for a year, testing their F1 car. This I’m sure gave him great knowledge, and it gave him time to work his skills in an F1 car without the pressure of racing against 20 other drivers.
After his year testing for Ferrari, he moved back to Sauber F1 and drove alongside Giancarlo Fisichella for the 2004 season. More of the same, I thought to myself, as I prepared to watch the season unfold.
Massa showed a more polished approach to his driving, but he still seemed to lack a consistency. With it, he would have been able to beat his teammate Fisichella, who beat him on many occasions and looked the better driver that year.
For that season, Massa managed a highest finish of fourth place, coming at the Belgian Grand Prix. His points tally at the end of the season was 12. In 2005, he would stay with Sauber, but this time partner with Jacques Villeneuve.
Throughout the 2005 season, I didn’t really think Massa was anything special, I knew he was fast and capable, yes, but I always felt he made too many errors.
Massa ended up beating Jacques that year, eleven points to nine. He also out qualified him 13 to 6. His average finishing position was also higher than Villeneuve for that season.
So you could say 2005 was a turnaround for Massa, and maybe that he had conquered his demons and finally achieved something he needed: consistency. He would need consistency to beat his next teammate, as Massa was to join Ferrari for 2006.
This would be the ultimate test of his ability, up against the legend himself, Michael Schumacher.
I didn’t think he had the slightest chance of beating Michael Schumacher, and he did not beat him. But he did learn from the great one, and he improved his pace and performance throughout the season.
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