Formula One drivers from Brazil

There have been 30 Formula One drivers from Brazil including three world champions. Ayrton Senna, the three-time title winner, is regarded by many as the best driver in the history of Formula One. Nelson Piquet also won the title three times and Emerson Fittipaldi was a two-time winner. Rubens Barrichello holds the record for the most races contested and finished as the championship runner-up in two seasons.

Brazil produced three world champions, all of whom won more than once. Emerson Fittipaldi was the first Brazilian to secure the Drivers' Championship, winning in 1972 and 1974. Nelson Piquet managed one better, winning the championship three times in the 1980s and became the first Brazilian triple world champion. In 1991 31-year-old Ayrton Senna won his third title, making him the youngest ever three-time world champion at that time.

Six Brazilian drivers won at least one grand prix, with a combined total of 101 wins. Ayrton Senna has won the most races with 41 victories, while Nelson Piquet won 23 out of 204 race starts. Fittipaldi, Rubens Barrichello, and Felipe Massa have each claimed more than ten wins.Carlos Pace scored his only victory at the 1975 Brazilian Grand Prix.Emerson Fittipaldi was the first Brazilian to win a Formula One Grand Prix - the 1970 United States Grand Prix at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course.

No Brazilian driver has won a Grand Prix since Barrichello's last win at the 2009 Italian Grand Prix, the country's longest barren run since Fittipaldi's maiden victory.

Felipe Massa debuted in 2002 and drove for Ferrari from 2006 to 2013. In his first three seasons with the team he finished third, fourth, and then second in the drivers' championship. All eleven of his race victories happened during those three seasons. He has found himself as the number two driver in the team on several occasions, firstly to Michael Schumacher and then Fernando Alonso, having to yield the lead and let the senior driver through for the victory. Massa came very close to winning the 2008 season, eventually losing to Lewis Hamilton by just one point. He lost it on the last lap of the final race of the season when Hamilton managed to pass Timo Glock for fifth position and secure enough points to win the championship. The Ferrari team, unaware of Hamilton's late overtaking move, were celebrating in the belief that Massa had won the title. When the situation became clear the message was relayed to a very disappointed Massa. For 2014, Massa moved to Williams.

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