Born on 25 April 1981 in Sao Paulo,Brazil, not far from the Interlagos circuit, Felipe Massa was already behind a wheelat the age of nine. In 1990 he came fourth in the Sao Paulo Micro-Kart Championship. In 1991 he was sixth and the following year he gained a place on the podium with a third place. After his successes in kart racing he participated in Formula Chevrolet following up a debut fifth place with his maiden championship win in 1999.


Felipe's successes continuedwhen he won the Italian Formula Renault Championship in 2000. In the following year he won the European F3000 Championship and signed a contract with Ferrari and took part in what was his first test behind the wheel of a Formula 1 single-seater, with Sauber, at the Mugello circuit. Felipe’s F1 debut came in 2002 at the Australia GP, racing for Sauber-Petronas. He won four points that season and started working as a Ferrari test driver, contributing to Scuderia’s triumph in both championships in 2003.


At the end of 2005 he finally got his opportunity to race for Scuderia Ferrari in the 2006 championship. In his first year as an official driver forthe team from Maranello he won the race in Turkey and his homerace in Brazil, helping him to third place in the Drivers' Standings. One year on, and Felipe was in title contention until the closing stages as Ferrari once again won both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles. In 2008 Massa doubled his win tally to six, and missed out on the Drivers’ Championship by a single point – the prize went to Hamilton, while Ferrari again won the Constructors’ title.

2009 was a very special year for the Brazilian driver. At first he had no luck – struggling initially with a lack of performance in the F60, he then suffered a spectacular crash in qualifying in Hungary and found himself out of action as the car began to improve. However, there was a happy ending – not only did the driver make a full recovery and return to the circuit, he also celebrated the birth of his son, also named Felipe.

In 2010, Massa finished sixth in the Drivers' Championship, taking five podium finishes. 2011 was his sixth season with Scuderia Ferrari and again he finished sixth.