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Ferrari Drivers
Felipe Massa
Fernando Alonso
Felipe Massa
Born 25/4/81, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Felipe burst onto the Formula 1&trade scene in 2002, driving for the Sauber-Petronas team, and quickly established himself as one of the brightest raw talents in the sport. In 2003 he became Scuderia Ferrari's test driver, refining his skills and helping to develop the cars that brought Ferrari the Drivers' and Constructors' Championship titles in 2003 and 2004. In 2006 he stepped up to become a race driver for Scuderia Ferrari, partnering seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher and winning his first F1&trade races for the team.
Felipe added to his tally of wins over the following seasons and demonstrated the maturity of his talent by becoming a regular challenger for the drivers' title, which he missed out on by a single point in 2008. He also expanded his interests outside F1&trade by becoming an ambassador for UNICEF.
He missed the second half of the 2009 season after being hit by debris during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix, but returned to the cockpit for winter testing and has proved to be as rapid as ever during the build-up to the new season.
Fernando Alonso
Born 29/7/81, Oviedo, Spain
When he made his grand prix debut for Minardi in 2001 at the age of 19, Fernando was one of the youngest drivers ever to start a Formula 1™ race. His extraordinary speed in karting had caught the attention of fellow Spaniard and former F1™ driver Adrian Campos, who supported Fernando’s career in the junior formulae and helped to secure the F1™ opportunity. Although Minardi was a small team which usually qualified towards the rear of the grid, Fernando immediately showed his class, outqualifying his team-mate by almost three seconds in his first grand prix.
Fernando became Renault’s test driver in 2002 and raced for the team in 2003, taking his first pole position in Malaysia and his first win in Hungary. He won the drivers’ title in 2005 and 2006 before moving to McLaren-Mercedes, where he won four grands prix and was in contention for the championship once again until his car aquaplaned off during the rain-hit Japanese GP.
Fernando returned to Renault for two seasons, and although the cars proved to be less competitive, he won two more grands prix. 2010 is his first season at Scuderia Ferrari.
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