When people hear the name Felipe Massa they instantly think of Lewis Hamilton’s 2008 title win, but the duo’s rivalry had far more chapters than just that fateful afternoon in Brazil.
The most famous – or infamous – moment of Massa’s Formula 1 career came when he thought he’d become champion in front of his home fans in Sao Paulo, a feeling which lasted just 25 seconds as Hamilton made the most dramatic of final corner overtakes to snatch the title.
An 11-time race winner and Ferrari’s next big hope, the Brazilian would never come close again, and retired with his career defined by Hamilton beating him.
In his post-F1 career Massa made it very clear he was over the moment, congratulating Hamilton as he added six more championships – although a potential lawsuit over 2008 casts those comments in doubt.
But long before any trip to the courthouse, Massa made sure to take his anger out on his British rival, who was only too happy to retaliate.
Hamilton and Massa would fade out of the title picture in the following years, with F1 instead becoming about the Sebastian Vettel vs Fernando Alonso rivalry.
Alonso was Ferrari’s new No.1, making Massa all but obsolete, while McLaren were completely out of the running, seeing Hamilton superseded by Jenson Button and even leaving the team for Mercedes in 2013.
Given the heights of 2008, it’s easy to see why both drivers were frustrated by their lack of competitiveness, but it wasn’t so easy to see why they decided to take that frustration out on each other.
Things started just six races in when the pair travelled back to their second home of Monaco. By this point it was obvious that Vettel was going to win his second title in simple fashion, so scrapping out for sixth place wasn’t much cause for excitement.
Nevertheless, Hamilton tried to overtake at the one track where it’s impossible, diving down the inside at the Fairmont Hairpin as Massa turned in.
They collided, and then three corners later going through the tunnel, Massa’s damage from the incident threw him into the wall as Hamilton passed.
Hamilton was penalised for the incident, and asked why he thought he got the punishment post-race, he told the media with a smile: “Maybe it’s because I’m black.
“He just turned into me and I tried to go over the curb to avoid him and then we’re stuck together, and of course I get the penalty.”
Both drivers clearly thought they were in the right, and three races later things clearly hadn’t passed.
At Silverstone – for Hamilton’s home race – the pair were trying to fight for a podium spot when the local hero went for the inside at the final chicane.
Again, Massa turned in and, again, there was contact. A piece of Hamilton’s front wing flew off and Massa looked to have sustained a puncture as he lost control on the main straight, but he was able to regain his car this time despite losing position.
That was nothing compared to what came next. Two races later F1 arrived back in Singapore with Vettel the runaway champion and Hamilton and Massa struggling to reach the podium.
Massa overtook Hamilton on the inside, but the Brit swiped back across, puncturing the Brazilian’s tyre, dumping him out of contention and earning a penalty.
As if there were any doubts left, it was now clear that these tangles were more than just a coincidence, and Massa made sure the world knew in the media pen post-race.
Grabbing his rival by the arm and interrupting an interview, he told Hamilton “Good job,” with the champion turning and fighting back with a, “Don’t touch me, man.”
Talking to the BBC ahead of the next race in Japan, Massa explained: “I tried to speak to him without the media but he didn’t even turn his head when he passed through, I called him twice.
“Then when I saw him there I had to say something. For sure I was disappointed, maybe what I did wasn’t the right thing, but what he did was ten times worse.
“Actually, I think he has a problem with me, because I never did anything to him. Everything he did he’s paying for it, not just with me but with other drivers as well. He doesn’t have two problems in this championship, he has many.”
To add even more fuel to the fire, it emerged that during the Singapore Grand Prix, Massa’s race engineer Rob Smedley had told him over the radio to ‘destroy his [Hamilton’s] race’.
Responding to the story, Massa said: “For sure, ‘destroy his race’ doesn’t mean what the words say because we are in competition and the time he said that was a completely different time.
“We’re racing and it’s competition and Rob says so many things to me during the race. The radio is closed but if the radio was open you guys would laugh the whole race, the words Rob said were something to push me, to stay ahead. For sure if my engineer told me to destroy the race of another driver I would not do it.”
The damage was irreparable, though, and even with Massa sitting down with the British media to excuse himself, the pair would come together once again next time out in Japan.
Their insistence on tangling was almost laughable, and with two races to go, in India, comedy legend Rowan Atkinson made sure it was exactly that.
As the pair clashed for the fifth and final time, with Hamilton sending Massa sideways with a move down the inside at one of the track’s fastest corners, the director brilliantly cut to the Mr. Bean actor in the McLaren paddock.
Going through a range of emotions and facial expressions as Hamilton took Massa out, kept on driving, but then looked in trouble himself, Atkinson was able to fittingly parody one of the sport’s most bizarre rivalries which had already become a complete joke.
