Massa reflects on "teacher" Schumacher and his F1 career

Felipe Massa has looked back on his Formula 1 career and explained the key moments which shaped him both professionally and personally as he bows out from the sport this year.

The Brazilian driver has retired from F1 having made 269 race starts with 11 wins and 16 pole positions. Massa made his F1 debut back in 2002 with Sauber before sealing a dream move to Ferrari replacing fellow countryman Rubens Barrichello to become team-mate to his “teacher” Michael Schumacher.

After losing out on the 2008 F1 world title by one point to Lewis Hamilton, Massa suffered life-threatening injuries in an accident in Hungary a year later but recovered to return to action at the start of 2010. The Brazilian driver left Ferrari for Williams at the end of the 2013 season and despite initially retiring in 2016 he pulled off a dramatic U-turn for one final season at the British team with Valtteri Bottas replacing Nico Rosberg at Mercedes.

In a tribute to his F1 career, the Brazilian has reflected on his key moments in the sport from learning from Schumacher which led to an emotional maiden race win.

“He [Schumacher] was my teacher, he was very nice and very kind to me all of the time. When he decided to stop he gave a big opportunity to me,” Massa said. “2006 was my first victory and it was at home in Brazil. In Brazil we’ve always had drivers in Formula 1 with so many titles and so many victories. Senna was the king so for me it was an amazing feeling to win.”

Massa says he has no regrets about missing out on the F1 title in 2008 by the narrowest of margins to Hamilton having won the season finale on home soil and producing his maximum.

“In 2008 what helped me through the disappointment was that I won the final race so I couldn’t do anything better than that,” he said. “It was not related to me, it was also related to the who was in the front of the championship but was behind in the race so that helped me also to be natural for the people and pass on my feelings. I am proud with everything that I’ve achieved.”

The Brazilian driver also reflected on his Hungary crash which shaped the rest of his F1 career in 2009 and how it gave him understanding and respect for both the sport and his rivals.

“I think as a driver I didn’t change [after the accident],” he explained “What changed was that I respected a lot more life than before. I mean before you have a big accident you always think it will never happen to you.

“When you have a big accident and a moment where you understand life can change like that you respect life a lot more. I love my life now a lot more and I respect others more than how it was before.”

To see the full video on Massa looking over his F1 career click here.