INTERVIEW: Massa still just the boy from Brazil

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  • A popular figure in F1: Massa.

    Now into the 13th year of his Formula One career, the sight of Felipe Massa walking out to the drivers’ parade with his son Felipinho is a familiar one.

    The Brazilian is one of the most experienced drivers on the grid and since 2002, has competed in V10, V8 and V6-powered cars, has represented three different teams, and has come within one point of winning a world championship.

    At 34, Massa has certainly seen it all and could be forgiven if he allowed himself to lose enthusiasm for the sport. But having helped Williams claim third in the constructors’ championship for a second straight season, and spurred on by his six-year-old son watching trackside, Massa insists his desire to win a world title remains stronger than ever.

    The closest he has come was back in 2008 when driving for Ferrari as the then 27-year-old was pipped at the post by Hamilton by a single point. Since then he’s never finished inside the top five in the final world championship standings.

    “My son understands a lot and he’s pushing me really hard. He always tells me ‘you need to win, you need to be good’,” Massa told Sport360 at the opening of the Hackett London store at Yas Mall in Abu Dhabi.

    “He’s happy to see that his father is racing and I think he understands step by step more about Formula One and he really likes it.

    “My dream is always to win the championship and I will keep fighting to achieve what I want. I really believe it can be possible. I will keep pushing until I’m there. I believe it’s not finished yet. I will be very happy if I can achieve what I’m dreaming of. But I can also say that I’m really satisfied with a nice career, long and very successful as well.”

    Massa admits that while Williams are having a good season, they haven’t been able to make improvements on their car as effectively as Mercedes and Ferrari have done throughout the year.

    The British marque, founded and run by team owner Sir Frank Williams, are 148 points behind second-placed Ferrari in the standings and Massa believes it is key to close the gap on their rivals in 2016.

    “I remember when I signed for Williams we were third last so I think it’s very nice to see what we did,” said Massa. “But we always want more and I believe to beat those teams we need to do a triple improvement compared to what they are doing.

    “Now is the right time to finish the season hopefully with a very good last race but also to prepare 100 per cent next year in the proper way to fight with those guys.”

    Massa made two podiums in 2015 and lies sixth in the drivers’ championship heading into the final race of the season tomorrow. He was outperformed by his team-mate Valtteri Bottas nine times this year with the Finn clinging onto fourth in the standings at the moment.

    Looking back at his season, Massa said: “I had amazing races this year, very good results. Races like the two podiums I did in Austria and Monza. In Silverstone I was leading the race, unfortunately the rain didn’t help at the end, we lost the podium because of that. In China I had a very good race, the first race in Australia.

    “But we had races that weren’t like what we expected like in Brazil for example. We had problems in USA, which was a good track for us, even Spa. But I think in the end it was a good season. Consistent. We managed to start third and finish third in the championship.

    “Last year I remember when we managed to get third at the end we were so happy and so pleased, we secured third really in the last race. This year we are already third which shows it was a good season. But we want more.” 

    Massa says the hope is to catch up with Mercedes next year but concedes it will not be easy. He feels having one team being so dominant is not the best thing for the sport and that something should be done about it.

    “I think the right direction is to see more teams fighting, to see other drivers winning races, that’s what the people want to see,” he added.

    “So when you see one team winning, it’s definitely not really great and people aren’t 100 per cent happy. But this isn’t new in F1. We’ve seen many times, one team winning many different championships, or maybe two maximum teams. When I was there fighting, there was another team at the same level. So this is what the people expect and hope and maybe this is what we miss.”

    On what the solution could be to make things more competitive, Massa added: “There’s a lot inside the rules, a lot inside the business, the budget, so everything is included. I don’t believe just the FIA decide everything alone, maybe they need to have the teams around, which is so difficult to get an agreement from everybody. So it’s not so easy. But I hope maybe things get better for the people.”

    Williams test driver Susie Wolff is retiring from motorsport after this weekend. The Scot is the first female to take part in a grand prix weekend in more than two decades as she participated in four practice sessions over the past two seasons.

    But Wolff decided to call it quits after she felt her dream of starting a race would never happen. Does Massa ever imagine an F1 grid made up of a mix of men and women in the future?

    “It would be nice for sure. I think unfortunately we never had this opportunity. We saw many girls like Susie trying really hard, she managed to drive the F1 car. But unfortunately she didn’t have the opportunity to race,” said Massa.

    “For sure I will welcome it 100 per cent. But the welcome is not enough. They need to prove that they can do it as well. This is really up to whatever driver that wants to arrive there, not just girls.

    “You can imagine how many people are trying everything they can to reach F1 and maybe they can’t. It’s not easy.”

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