Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton are currently involved in one of the most intense battles for the Formula 1 title in years, with a gap of only 19 points separating the two with just four events until the end of the 2021 championship.
Former Scuderia Ferrari driver know how this feels and has gone up against Hamilton himself, as the Brazilian driver ended up second to the now-seven-time world champion after a tense battle in the 2008 season, which Felipe came very close to winning.
Ahead of the 2021 Brazilian Grand Prix at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace circuit, where that title was decided 13 years ago, Felipe Massa recalls that season with the Maranello and gives his insight for F1.com on the Verstappen-Hamilton rivalry…
One disadvantage for Felipe For Massa in 2008 was that he didn’t find out he was de facto number one before China, the penultimate race of the championship, given the fact that the standings were reasonably close between him and team mate Kimi Raikkonen until then, courtesy of some big points losses in Hungary and Singapore because of mechanical and operational problems.
“Kimi helped me. We swapped positions in that race. Kimi was further down in the championship and the team decided to focus 100% on me, which was similar to what happened the year before when I did the same for Kimi.” – Felipe admitted.
After Felipe Massa helped Kimi Raikkonen in 2007, which included giving up a home win in Brazil and ultimately yielded the Finn’s one and only championship, the Finn returned the favour the following year. Felipe won the race in front of his fans and was famously world champion for a few seconds before Hamilton passed Timo Glock on the final corner at Interlagos to snatch it himself.
“Kimi was very easy going to work as a team mate. He was not a big friend, but he was really straightforward and fair, which I was the same the year before. He was a good team mate to me. We had good results and big success for Ferrari at the time.”
Massa was a title outsider in 2007 until after Belgium when Ferrari decided to back Raikkonen given he was ahead by seven points. 2008 was his first real chance.
“I was confident I was better than Kimi. I was doing a very good championship. Unfortunately I had bad races, like Singapore or Hungary and there were some other races, we lost points too. Apart from that I was confident, I loved to drive that car. I was strong in my mind to fight until the very last lap and do everything I could to win. I always believed I could do it.”
Rest and recovery are super important, but is often one thing that can be disrupted as the pressure mounts. Felipe Massa, though, also wasn’t one for letting the nerves disrupt his sleep as the Grand Prix weekend headed into the business end.
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“For me, it was a lot more difficult to sleep from Thursday to Friday instead of Saturday to Sunday because I wanted to race. My adrenaline was pumping. I wanted to drive. By the time it came to Saturday, I was in a good place. I felt comfortable with where the car was, I knew the track and the conditions and I knew the race was almost upon us – so I slept so much better.”
One of the major differences between Hamilton versus Massa and Hamilton versus Verstappen is that in the former, both were relatively new to fighting for world titles, whereas Verstappen – chasing his first – is up against Formula 1’s most successful driver in Hamilton with 12 seasons separating his first and most recent championship.
How useful is that extra experience to Hamilton? “It is difficult to say because in the end, Lewis on one side doesn’t have a lot of pressure as he’s won the championship seven times, but he has some extra pressure now because he has someone who is really confident, really doing a fantastic job, and is very aggressive. We know that in 2016, he had a really strong fight was with Nico and ultimately lost the championship. But he hasn’t had someone as aggressive as Max to fight against and this may change a little bit your thinking compared to a normal situation.”
There have been a couple of flashpoints on track, namely at Silverstone and at Monza, and off track between Hamilton and Verstappen this year, creating headlines across the wall while also not only engaging hardcore fans but also enticing a wider fanbase.
“It’s not only the battle, but the personalities of these two drivers is something the fans love to see and throw their support behind,” said Massa. “I think that’s fantastic. We all know Senna-Prost. We can’t forget. This is a similar situation. My title battle with Lewis was a lot calmer compared to what is happening with Lewis and Max this year. We know that neither will give an inch in any corner, and it doesn’t matter if it’s this race or the last race of the season.”
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