Felipe Massa

Felipe Massa lived through one of the cruellest episodes in the sport's history: he was world champion for about thirty seconds. The Brazilian from São Paulo had earned his status as Ferrari leader, first alongside Schumacher and then with Räikkönen, with notable qualifying speed and great performances at his beloved Interlagos.

In 2008 he delivered the best season of his life, with six wins, and reached the final race at home fighting for the title with Hamilton. He crossed the line winning and, for an instant, was world champion in front of his home crowd; but at the year's last corner Hamilton passed Glock and snatched the crown by a single point. His dignity in defeat moved the world.

In 2009 he suffered a horrific accident in Hungary when a spring struck his head, from which he recovered with enormous credit. He continued at Ferrari and then Williams until 2017, leaving the image of a fast, brave and deeply human driver.