Massa looks forward to 100th race for Ferrari

By Jens Marx Nov 22, 2011, 13:36 GMT

Sao Paulo - Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix will be a special one for Felipe Massa.

Not only will the 30-year-old Brazilian, who has competed in 152 Grand Prix races be participating in his home event, it will also be his 100th race for Ferrari.

'This will be a very important weekend for me, as it will also mark the end of the tenth year since I first raced in Formula 1, although not ten years of competition, as I was a Ferrari test driver in 2003,' he told the Ferrari website.

'Fortunately, I am still young and there is more to come, but ten years is still a landmark in an F1 driver's career. Then there are my six years racing for the Scuderia, competing in one hundred Grand Prix races for the team, which makes me one of the drivers who has raced the most for this team.

'Therefore, putting it all together, ten years of Formula 1, one hundred races with Ferrari and all of it at home in Brazil, makes this something really special for me.

'It will be an emotional time and what I would like to add to it all would be a good result come Sunday afternoon,' he said.

Massa has managed 11 Grand Prix victories - two of them in Brazil. 'They were both incredible,' he remembers.

'Even the one in 2008 when I won and came so very close to winning the drivers' title in Brazil.'

In 2008 Massa was leading the race and seemed destined to make up a seven point lead that McLaren's Lewis Hamilton had going into the race, but the Briton managed to overtake Timo Glock in the final corner to secure the fourth place-finish he needed to win the championship.

'My first win at home was the realization of a dream, because for a Brazilian to win at home is almost like winning the world championship, so for those reasons the 2006 victory at Interlagos was the best of those two,' he said.

This season has been a disappointing one for the Brazilian and with just one race of the 19-season races remaining, he is still waiting for his first podium place of the season.

He is sixth in the drivers' standings with 108 points - 266 behind champion Sebastian Vettel and 137 behind his team-mate Fernando Alonso.

'This has not been a fantastic season for me, but neither has it been for the team,' he said.

Massa, whose contract runs until the end of next season, has now been told that he needs to prove himself for next year.

Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo said on Italian television that Massa has been with the team for a few years. 'Even if he didn't have such a great season or much luck, we can't question the ability of a driver who has always been fast and competitive.

'Let's hope he can finish the season with a good result in Brazil. We expect great things from him in 2012, and then we'll decide how to proceed. Let's say he'll have to prove himself next season,' di Montezemolo said.

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