Obrigado, Felipe Baby - A farewell collection of Massa's best Sidepodbits
Published by Christine
Felipe Massa is celebrating his final Brazilian Grand Prix this weekend, soaking in the love from his home fans, after announcing his retirement early in the season. Massa has spent 14 seasons in Formula One, racing for three different teams, and gathering a huge amount of support along the way. A much-loved member of the F1 paddock, he'll be missed when he hangs up his helmet in a few week's time. To celebrate the Brazilian drivers long career, I've gathered together some of his Sidepodcast highlights.
Massa completed a very lengthy stint at Ferrari, riding the ups and downs of a rollercoaster career at the Scuderia. Through supporting his teammate’s championship battles, to his own 2008 title near-miss, and of course the horrific accident in 2009, his attachments to Ferrari and Italy were clear. For 2014, those bonds were broken and Massa made the move to Williams for a new challenge in his F1 career.
Ever since the controversial move, rumours in the media have been rife regarding Massa’s future and speculation that he would be out of the team as soon as 2011 have steadfastly refused to go away. It is unlikely that such a drastic move will be made with one of the leading players this late in the season; however, it leaves the Brazilian in something of a conundrum as to what happens next.
Felipe Massa is set to have a new race engineer at Williams, putting an end to the speculation that long-time friend and pit wall specialist Rob Smedley would follow the Brazilian to continue the partnership. Massa's performance in Formula One picked up considerably when he teamed up with Rob Smedley, the Brit able to talk his driver around laps in a way that saw real progress.
Challenged by Felipe Massa's six year old son, Felipinho, Daniel Ricciardo accepted the call to arms for a head to head kart race. The battle went down yesterday, with Felipe Massa being a most excellent host and streaming all the action live on Facebook.
Massa's future has been a constant source of speculation and while his options for remaining in the sport look slim, he doesn't yet appear ready to say goodbye to Formula 1. His message today to fans on Twitter and Instagram talks optimistically about his future.
Kimi Räikkönen and Felipe Massa share a joke as they celebrate on the podium in Bahrain. The CEO of Bahrain International Circuit said they were happy to be hosting the first round of the season and they've picked up the title of "The Friendly Race." Perhaps that is what the pair of them are laughing at.
The stunning lap left the Brazilian less than a tenth behind the works Mercedes, having had better grunt up the hill on to the start/finish straight, clawing back time the Mercedes chassis had gained in the middle sector. In reality it was all that Massa could have hoped for and was a testament to his skill and knowledge of his home track that allowed him to get so close.
Massa had possibly the worst start to a season that a championship contender could have, retiring in both Australia and Malaysia. However, it was definitely a case of third time lucky, as Massa went from zero to 10 points in Bahrain. Since then, his fortunes have improved drastically, but has he made the most of his opportunities?
During a recent live recording of F1 Debrief, the Sidepodcommunity managed to butcher the 12 Days of Christmas like never before. The end result was so spectacular it really does deserve of a post of it's own. So we've created a 7" single version for your listening pleasure / pain.
Massa hasn't really had an easy time of it recently. Following on from his strong, but disappointing, finish to 2008, the Ferrari hasn't really been up to scratch. It's understandable that the drivers confidence might not be as sky high as you would expect but just lately, they seem to have been very downbeat about this whole racing business.
A one off special performance of Felipe Baby, performed live by Christine, as promised to the Sidepodcommunity if the total charity donations reached more than £500.
Obrigado, Felipe, we love you!
