A thankful Felipe Massa described it as a “great pleasure” to enjoy a long career in Formula 1 after crossing the finish line for the final time at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday.
The Brazilian would add one more point to his total by finishing 10th at Yas Marina, losing a place he had gained at the start from long-time Ferrari teammate Fernando Alonso through the pit-stop phase.
But that wasn’t particularly important when the 37-year-old offered his thoughts in the paddock afterwards, instead, there was a sense of pride from the 11-time race winner who famously came so close to winning the title in 2008.
“It was really a great pleasure, to be here 16 years,” Massa, whose career began with Sauber in 2002, said to Sky Sports. “I am so lucky to have passed through all this for such a long time – racing against great teams, the best drivers in the world.
“So thank you, all of you that were following me, supporting me all this time, my family – and I’m very lucky to have all of this in my life. It was a great pleasure.”
Though the result wasn’t a repeat of the seventh he managed at his last home Grand Prix at Interlagos two weeks ago, the Williams driver added: “I have to say the race was good today, I was fighting from the beginning to the end.”
His departure also ends one of the great bromances on the grid that was forged with Massa’s former Race Engineer at Ferrari and now Head of Vehicle Performance at Williams Rob Smedley, but the Briton is sure ‘Felipe baby’ is bowing out at the perfect time.
“I think this is now definitely, undoubtedly the time to retire from F1,” he said. “The car’s not anywhere near where we need it to be but he’s still at the top of his game in that car and I’m not sure that we would get many more points with that car.
“Weekend in, weekend out we rely on him and to have a driver like that, who is loved by the team, who is loved by the paddock and who’s still at the top of his game …there’s no better way to go out.”
