Felipe Massa set for F1 farewell at Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
AT last year's Brazilian Grand Prix, Felipe Massa walked through the Interlagos pits after crashing his Williams and ended up in floods of tears as the crowd cheered wildly and members of other teams clapped and formed a guard of honour. He eventually fell into an embrace with his wife and son, and the tears fell faster still.
He had only one F1 race to come but, at his home race, where he had so nearly won the world championship in 2008, this was the real goodbye.
Or so we thought.
Less than three weeks later, newly crowned 2016 champion Nico Rosberg stunned just about everybody by announcing his immediate retirement and suddenly a vacancy had arisen at Mercedes.
By January 2017 it had been filled by Massa's Williams team-mate Valtteri Bottas, and the knock-on effect was that Massa was back - resigning for Williams who wanted an experienced hand alongside teenage rookie Lance Stroll.
The Brazilian had sixth-place finishes in two of the first three races of this season but it's been fairly underwhelming since then - until a different kind of goodbye in his home city of Sao Paulo before he retires again.
Massa spent most of the race in close proximity to erstwhile Ferrari team-mate Fernando Alonso and just held off the McLaren man to cross the line in seventh, which meant he got to say goodbye to Interlagos by taking the chequered flag.
During the slowing-down lap, Massa's son, Felipinho, came on the team radio and said: "Daddy, I am so proud of you. Wherever you go, I will support you. By the way, I love your start."
It was classic Massa. Warm, emotional and real - it demonstrated the family man who people warmed to because of his humanity.
This time, he insists, there is no going back on his decision to stop after next Sunday's season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Massa’s impending departure a means that, as it stands, there will be no Brazilian drivers in F1 next season. That hasn’t happened since the 1960s and in the ensuing period the nation has produced multiple world champions Emerson Fittipaldi, Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna.
The 36-year-old’s achievements might not compare with those greats but he still has a fair bit to be proud of.
Only five men - Rubens Barrichello, Jenson Button, Michael Schumacher, Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen - have competed in more grands prix than Massa, who has 268 starts with one to come.
Only seven-time world champion Schumacher has started more races for Ferrari (Massa managed 139 from 2006-13).
And 11 wins among 41 podium finishes isn’t too shabby either.
The last of those victories was nine years ago - at Interlagos of course when he came within a few hundred metres of winning the world title. Felipe Massa set for F1 farewell at Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Felipe Massa celebrates winning the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix
Think he enjoyed that one? Michael Schumacher gives Massa a champagne soaking after the Brazilian won his first grand prix in Turkey in 2006
Sometimes retirement isn’t always final. At last year’s Brazilian Grand Prix, Felipe Massa walked through the Interlagos pits after crashing his Williams and ended up in floods of tears as the crowd cheered wildly and members of other teams clapped and formed a guard of honour. He eventually fell into an embrace with his wife and son, and the tears fell faster still.
He had only one F1 race to come but, at his home race, where he had so nearly won the world championship in 2008, this was the real goodbye.
Or so we thought.
Less than three weeks later, newly crowned 2016 champion Nico Rosberg stunned just about everybody by announcing his immediate retirement and suddenly a vacancy had arisen at Mercedes.
By January 2017 it had been filled by Massa’s Williams team-mate Valtteri Bottas, and the knock-on effect was that Massa was back - resigning for Williams who wanted an experienced hand alongside teenage rookie Lance Stroll.
The Brazilian had sixth-place finishes in two of the first three races of this season but it’s been fairly underwhelming since then - until a different kind of goodbye in his home city of Sao Paulo before he retires again.
Massa spent most of the race in close proximity to erstwhile Ferrari team-mate Fernando Alonso and just held off the McLaren man to cross the line in seventh, which meant he got to say goodbye to Interlagos by taking the chequered flag.
During the slowing-down lap, Massa’s son, Felipinho, came on the team radio and said: “Daddy, I am so proud of you. Wherever you go, I will support you. By the way, I love your start.”
It was classic Massa. Warm, emotional and real - it demonstrated the family man who people warmed to because of his humanity.
This time, he insists, there is no going back on his decision to stop after next Sunday’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.-BBC