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Brazilian F1 driver Felipe Massa to retire at end of 2016 season

Williams Formula One driver Felipe Massa announced plans to retire at the end of the 2016 season ahead of the Italian Grand Prix. After 14 years in F1, the 35-year-old Brazilian driver competed in 242 races and won 11 grands prix over his tenure, placing him in the ranks as one of the most experienced drivers in the sport. The last race of the 2016 season in Abu Dhabi will be Massa's 250th race, capping off a career where the Brazilian drove for Sauber, Ferrari, and, most recently, Williams. In an emotional video, which was posted on his Facebook, Massa confirmed that he would be leaving Formula One and provided some insight into his lengthy career. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The move to announce his retirement before the Italian Grand Prix was a premeditated decision as it was the same location where Michael Schumacher (who was a large influence on Massa) announced his retirement. Massa also spent numerous years behind the wheel of a Ferrari F1 car and came extremely close to winning the title in 2008 in one. The Italian Grand Prix, then, is the ideal spot for the announcement. Massa's career, which the F1 driver claims has given him "great pride, joy and happiness," started in 2002 with the Swiss-based Sauber team. In his first season, Massa scored four championship points and went on to spend the following season as one of Ferrari's test drivers. For the 2004 season, Massa rejoined Sabuer's lineup alongside Giancarlo Fisichella, where he finished with a total of 12 championship points. The 2005 season was Massa's last with Sauber as the Brazilian was partnered with former champion Jacques Villeneuve, but still managed to score a total of 11 championship points. The 2006 F1 season started the most successful part Massa's career. Massa partnered with the legendary Schumacher, where the Brazilian won his first F1 race in Turkey. Ferrari retained Massa for 2007 to drive with Schumacher's replacement, Kimi Raikkonen, who would go on to win the Driver's Championship by one point. The next year, 2008, was Massa's most memorable with the driver losing out on the championship by a single point to McLaren's Lewis Hamilton. In 2009, Massa was involved in a life-threatening accident in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix where the driver was struck in the head by a loose spring from Rubens Barrichello's vehicle.

Ferrari stock falls after new CEO calls Marchionne's goals ‘aspirational’

MILAN — Ferrari's new boss sought to reassure investors that he would execute midterm targets set by his predecessor, Sergio Marchionne, but the stock has fallen by 12.5 percent since Wednesday after he described the goals to 2022 as "aspirational." Louis Camilleri was appointed chief executive of the Italian supercar maker on July 21, succeeding Marchionne, who fell seriously ill and later died after suffering complications following surgery. The sudden change jolted investors who had expected Marchionne, who nearly tripled Ferrari's value since taking it public in 2015, to stay on as CEO and chairman until 2021. It also left Camilleri, 63, to finish scripting a midterm strategy that will be presented in September and is meant to show how the company plans to achieve financial targets unveiled earlier this year, notably a goal to double core earnings to 2 billion euros ($2.33 billion) by 2022. In a post-results conference call with analysts, Camilleri said he and Marchionne, with whom he had interacted for years, shared the same ambitions for the company. The tobacco veteran, chairman and former CEO of Philip Morris International has served on the Ferrari board since 2015, while Marchionne in turn sat on the board of PMI. Asked about how he planned to deliver on the targets set by his predecessor, Camilleri said he would provide details during capital market days to be held on Sept. 17-18 at the company's headquarters in Maranello, Italy. "They are aspirational targets. At the capital markets day, we will tell you how we plan to get there," he said. "We will also have to disclose potential risks to that, but also significant opportunities that we see going forward." Ferrari's Milan-listed shares fell after the comments, and its shares on the New York Stock Exchange fell from a Wednesday high of $134.77 to $117.99 on Thursday morning. Tough act to follow At Ferrari, Camilleri has a tough act to follow. Marchionne orchestrated Ferrari's spinoff from parent Fiat Chrysler, positioned it as a luxury icon rather than a car manufacturer, and managed to do what few thought possible: sail through a self-imposed cap of 7,000 vehicles per year without sacrificing pricing power and exclusive appeal. When its share price hit a record high of 129.90 euros in June, the company that sold just under 8,400 vehicles last year was worth around 24 billion euros, almost as much as Fiat Chrysler, which shipped 4.7 million cars.

Romania's Forza Rossa to join 2016 F1 grid

Bazac's Maranello ties have prompted speculation that Forza Rossa could be as closely affiliated with Ferrari as Hass. Formula One may be in a bit of a crisis at the moment, with two of its smaller teams collapsing into bankruptcy, but there may yet be light at the end of the proverbial tunnel as two new teams are gearing up to take their place. One of those teams is Forza Rossa, and while we haven't much anything about the Romanian entry in in recent months, a new report from Pitpass indicates that plans are well under way – if not without their complications. Forza Rossa is being backed by a number of Romanian parties, including veteran race strategist Colin Kolles (who was most recently involved in the Caterham buyout) and Ion Bazac, former government minister and Ferrari's Romanian importer (pictured above next to Giancarlo Fisichella). Interestingly, the latter's ties to Maranello have prompted speculation that the team could be at least as closely affiliated with Ferrari as Haas (the American team being started by industrial machinery magnate and NASCAR team owner Gene Haas). A third Romanian individual – former soccer player Constantin Cojocar – turns out to have been the one who bought Caterham Sports Ltd, the company which designed and built the cars for the Caterham F1 Team until its recent collapse. The plan was to supply chassis and components to both Caterham and Forza Rossa, but Cojocar evidently had trouble paying the bills and keeping the lights on. Caterham's bankruptcy, however, could present a golden opportunity for Forza Rossa to scoop up the assets of both the team and the manufacturer at a good price, building the new team on the burnt foundations of the old one – even if it has already been granted the go-ahead by the FIA to form its own entry. That, however, won't happen until 2016 at the earliest, whittling down the grid in the meantime from 22 cars to 18. According to the arrangement between the FIA, Formula One Management and the teams, that threshold would oblige at least the leading teams to make up the lost places on the grid by fielding a third car each – something they couldn't prepare in time for US Grand Prix this past weekend, but which could be put into action for next season.