OCTOBER 28, 2003

Massa at Sauber - it's official

Felipe Massa has agreed a two-year deal with the Sauber team, but it is expected that he will have a get-out clause to move to Ferrari in 2005 if a drive is available.

Felipe Massa, European GP 2002
© The Cahier Archive

The long-awaited announcement from Sauber that Felipe Massa will be driving of the team in 2004 is no surprise. Massa has agreed a two-year deal with the Swiss team but it is expected that he will have a get-out clause to move to Ferrari in 2005 if a drive is available. Massa drove for Sauber in 2002 but spent this year maturing at the Ferrari test driver.

"In 2002 Felipe proved his exceptional speed," said Peter Sauber, "but at the end of the year I recommended that rather than going on to race for another team, he should sign on with Ferrari as a test driver in order to become even more familiar with the technical aspects of Formula 1. Getting first-hand experience of how Ferrari and Michael Schumacher operate is perfect training for a young racing driver and I'm convinced that Felipe is now able to make optimum use of his potential."