Felipe Massa signed off his Formula 1 career with a run to 10th place in Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, spending most of the race fighting with former teammate Fernando Alonso.
Massa confirmed ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix he would be quitting F1 at the end of the season – a year after his original planned retirement – following more than 15 years in the sport.
Following a near-perfect display at his home race in Brazil two weeks ago that saw him finish seventh, Massa followed it up with another run into the points in Abu Dhabi, taking the checkered flag 10th.
Massa spent much of the race scrapping with Alonso, who he raced alongside at Ferrari between 2010 and 2013, finishing 3.4 seconds behind the McLaren driver at the checkered flag.
“it was good fun today. I really enjoyed the race I did, fighting from the beginning to the end – fighting with Fernando again from the beginning to the end!” Massa told NBCSN after the race.
“But what can I say? I’m so lucky to be passing through all of these years, racing for great teams, meeting great people, fighting against the best drivers in the world. I’m very lucky.
“I just need to say thank you to all of you guys who have been following me for such a long time. It was a great pleasure. I can say I’m very happy for all of this.”
Massa is known to be exploring alternative racing options for next year, and has been linked with an official FIA role as well, with the Brazilian confirming he would still be around the paddock.
“Staying at home is not a great thing to do, I cannot do it. But we’ll invent something interesting to do,” Massa said.
“I’m looking forward to that. I’m sure I’ll have some great opportunities in front of me.
“We just need to have the time to think about it and do it in the right way, not taking whatever occasion.
“That’s the way I am, and that’s the way I’ll try to be.”
