2011 Ferrari F150

People came to Maranello with their families, and had a little surprise in store. Alongside Di Montezemolo and Ferrari’s team principal Stefano Domenicali, they were �to see three rather special Father Christmases, namely Felipe Massa, Luca Badoer and Marc Gene.�

Felipe Massa Dressed Up As Santa

Felipe Massa was not present not present in the F1 team during the second half of the season, due to his head injuries in the Hunagrian Grand Prix accident. Badoer took over the F1 seat for a couple of races, while afterwards returning to his test/reserve driver role next to Marc Gene.

Besides the fact that he really escaped death during the Hungaroring incident, when a piece of Rubens Barrichello’s car hit his helmet at over 120 mph � Massa had many to be thankful for throughout 2009. Most prominently, he became father a few weeks ago, when his wife gave birth to baby boy name Felipinho.

Addressing each person in the Gestione Sportiva last weekend, he took the opportunity to be grateful to the team for their massive support after the Hungaroring accident.

�What happened to me this year was unbelievable and I took so much strength from you to recover as quickly as possible. The heartfelt warmth I felt from Ferrari is something I will never ever forget as long as I live. I assure you that my determination to get back on track and to win has never been this strong!� said Massa.

As for his Christmas party, Massa admitted �it�s the first time I�ve dressed up as Father Christmas. It�s nice to be here with so many children. I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone peace, health and goodwill and for those of us who work for Ferrari, obviously, my wish is that we get back to our winning ways so that we can fight for the world championship.�

Circuit testing is barred until after the new cars are launched at the end of January, but the Italian team said Massa “asked Ferrari to give him a present”.

“In the next few days, the Brazilian will be back on a race track at the Mugello circuit to drive a Formula One car,” said the Maranello based outfit, revealing that the single seater at the 28-year-old’s disposal will be a F2007 with demonstration tyres.

Ferrari said the test will not take place on Monday, with an exact date to only be set pending the region’s weather forecast.

“I wanted to jump into a Formula One car before the end of the year, so I made the most of being in Maranello to do it,” said Massa.

Toyota has confirmed to declare its plans about the 2010 Formula One season this November 8, it has emerged.
It was expected that the Japanese carmaker’s decision about whether to prolong funding its Cologne based team would not be recognized until the much-vaunted Tokyo board meeting a week later.
“(Japanese) auto and auto-part makers are questioning what they can gain now by spending hundreds of millions of yen in taking part in Formula One,” said Tatsuya Mizuno, an auto analyst at Mizuno Credit Advisory.
On the bright side, Toyota’s withdrawal would make room for Sauber, whose official application to race in 2010 will be automatically activated in the event of a vacancy.
But it would be very bad news for Kamui Kobayashi, the Japanese F1 rookie who has impressed Toyota with his two races in Brazil and Abu Dhabi.
The 23-year-old told reporters before leaving the Yas Marina Circuit that he has “no budget” to fall back on GP2 in 2010, after finishing sixteenth in the F1 feeder category this season.
“I would probably go back to Japan to maybe work with my father in his sushi restaurant. It was like that two months ago,” said Kobayashi.

brawn gp

“We are very pleased for Rubens that he will be driving in Formula one once again next year. Rubens was with our team for four years and we regard him as a highly experienced and talented driver whose contribution to the team over that period was significant.

�”2009 was a very special season for Brawn GP and I am extremely proud of the spirit in which our drivers Rubens and Jenson fought for the Drivers’ Championship. Rubens contributed hugely to our success in the Constructors’ Championship with two great victories in Valencia and Monza along with numerous podiums and he was a pleasure to work with.

“We wish Rubens the very best with his new team and thank him for his contribution to Brawn GP this year.”

�