Born: 25 April 1981 in Sao Paulo, Brazil

Height : 1m66

Weight : 59kg

Early career

Massa, a Brazilian whose grandfather came to Brazil from the city of Cerignola, Italy, was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Massa began karting when he was 8 years old, finishing fourth in his first season. He continued in national and international championships for 7 years, and in 1998 he moved into Formula Chevrolet, finishing the Brazilian championship in fifth. In the next season, he won 3 of the 10 races and took the championship. In 2000, he moved to Europe to compete in the Italian Formula Renault series, winning both it and the European Formula Renault championship in the same year. Whilst having the opportunity to move into Formula 3, he opted instead for the Formula 3000 Euro-Series, and was dominant, winning 6 of the 8 races to take the championship.

He was then offered an F1 test with the Sauber team, who promptly signed him for 2002. In the meantime he drove for Alfa Romeo in the European Touring Car Championship as a guest driver.

He finished second in the 2008 Drivers' World Championship, and is under contract to race for Scuderia Ferrari until the end of the 2010 season.

On July 25, 2009, in the second round of qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix, Massa was struck on the helmet by a suspension spring that had fallen from Rubens Barrichello's Brawn, on a high-speed part of the track. He subsequently crashed head-on into a tyre barrier. Massa was airlifted to the ÁEK hospital in Budapest, where he underwent surgery in the area surrounding his left eye. His condition was initially described as "life-threatening but stable", but improved rapidly. Massa was discharged from hospital the following week and returned to Brazil. Ferrari consultant and seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher was asked to take over Massa's race seat during his recovery,but his comeback was halted by neck injuries sustained during a motorcycle race earlier in the year. Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer was confirmed as Massa's substitute for the European Grand Prix.

Source - Wikipedia and http://www.felipemassa.com