Felipe Massa Networth, Money and More
NET WORTH: $ 8 MILLION
Who would not get reminded of Felipe Massa, when one talks about fastest, multi-turn, circuit racing championship Formula one or the F1? Felipe, holding on a position of 5, among the top 10 Formula One drivers celebrates his birthday on every 25th of April. This stellar racer, born in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1981, embarked on a career by karting in 1990. After undergoing a period of rigorous practice and participation in innumerable championships, for the 7 consecutive years, won the title in Brazilian Formula Chevrolet Championship. He made a breakthrough performance by winning the Italian and European Renault Championships, in 2000.
Massa’s surge
Massa won the palm in six races, out of eight in Italian F3000 series, where he particularly impressed Peter Sauber team in the first test and got himself signed to be Nick Heidfeld’steam mate but this ecstasy of him didn’t last longer as his racing deftness were still not honed properly as a result of which, Heinz-Harald Frentzen replaced Massa in 2003 for the Italian Grand Prix. Nicolas Todt, son of Ferrari boss Jean Todt served as a ray of hope to Massa and for the entire year, he worked as a second test driver in Ferrari. He left no stone unturned in developing his driving style and incredibly secured 3rd position in the World championship when he was paired up with Michael Schumacher and made a Grand Prix triumph in Turkey and Brazil. This was how he made a comeback to Sauber team in 2004.
The trail of success
- Massa bagged fourth position at Spa after giving a tough competition to Juan Pablo Montoya, followed by occupying the same position in Shanghai and Interlagos.
- Massa again scored a fourth place, in pairing with Jacques Villeneuve, giving the best performance of the year.
- Massa was a steadfast racer, who never lost his hopes and had won from pole at Istanbul even after his car got crashed twice, at Melbourne and in qualifying round at Monte-Carlo.
Off the Track!!
It was the time when Massa wanted to expand his family and got married to a beautiful daughter of Anna and Arnaldo Bassi, Anna Rafaela Bassi on November 30, 2007. Exactly two years later, they gave birth to a baby boy, Felipe Bassi Massa on November 30, 2009. Massa holds a charity kart race, International Challenge of the stars since 2005.
Life, 2007 onwards
After the retreat of Schumacher in 2007, Massa was paired up as a team leader with Kimi Raikkonen. Massa faced serious defeats from Lewis Hamilton at Malaysia and Fernanado Alonso in the European Grand Prix, followed by Raikkonen who became a champion and Massa was fourth. This was not then end; by the final race, Massa lost the pace and surrendered the lead to his partner, Raikkonen who could become a champion.
Roles do get reversed, but with a TWIST!!
Felipe Massa won six times, the year after and out-performed Raikkonen, the moment he was about to cross the finishing line on the track of the final race and everyone was sure he would get the home title but every tale has a twist, which was a bit sour for Massa as Lewis Hamilton took over the final championship. Massa’s spirit of sportsmanship and magnanimity was truly inevitable and commendable.
2009, a bit too harsh
Felipe, being the next driver to Rubens Barrichello’s car met with a fatal skull fracture during a qualifying round when a spring weighing 700 grams detached from the rear suspension of Rubens’ car and hit Massa’s crash helmet. But Massa fought against the unfavorable fate and had undergone a successful emergency surgery in Budapest hospital. Massa returned back to the racing track with a new team-mate Fernando Alonso, in 2010, which was again not easy as Alonso took over him on the racing tracks, followed by 2011 where he met with several collisions with Hamilton and Massa could not bag a position higher than 5th but then to Ferrari retained him.
Personal Quote:
Commenting on differences with his new Ferrari team-mate Fernando Alonso and ex-team-mate Kimi Raikkonen: I have spoken more to Fernando over the last three days than with Kimi in three years.
“If my weekend begins well, I use the same underpants on Saturday. If that is also a good day, I wear them on Sunday. That is what I did in Brazil.”
FAILURES ARE THE PILLARS OF SUCCESS
Ferrari started casting doubt over the potential of Felipe as he could not overcome his shortcomings in 2012, as well and gave a deteriorating graph of performance from 2010 onwards but the decision of whether to retain him or not was procrastinated. It was the time when Massa eventually tightened up his seat belt and finished the longest, ever endurable Ferrari race, in Japan. But it seems that Massa had a little tough luck in terms of qualifying with Alonso, the example of which could be drawn from the Ferrari race in America, in which Massa was deliberately incurred with a gearbox change penalty, in order to facilitate Alonso move up the grid. Felipe’s wounds were not healed up properly, when in the 1st half of 2013, he met with several spins and crashes that further impeded Massa’s endeavor. At the end of the year Ferrari replaced him with former team-mate Raikkonen and he switched to Williams in 2014.
The Bank Balance
Massa owns a stunning, black Maserati Quattroporte as one of his personal cars. Ferrari 599, is an apotheosis of his taste well suiting his career, is just another one of his collection, in his garage. Felipe has recently signed an endorsement for Soccerade energy drink, with a famous footballer Cristiano Ronalod, for two years. In May 2007, Felipe’s underwear sold at auction for US $ 775.
