Once regarded as the 'enfant terrible' of F1, Felipe Massa earned himself a new contract with Ferrari for 2007 after claiming two race wins during the 2006 season.

While he may not have grabbed the headlines in the manner of team-mate Michael Schumacher, the Brazilian impressed observers with his surprisingly mature performances and Schumacher himself claimed that a factor in his decision to retire was a desire to see Massa's progress continue.

Massa joined the F1 grid in 2002. Quick out of the blocks in the Ferrari-engined Sauber, there were already rumours that he would replace Rubens Barrichello at Ferrari.

His reputation had been enhanced by Peter Sauber's astute signing of Kimi Raikkonen the previous year, but as the season progressed it became obvious that Raikkonen held the larger talent and Massa was more wild than wonderful.

Although he got very close to Nick Heidfeld's performances he was guilty of overdriving the Sauber C21 and at Monza was fined by the stewards and deducted 10 grid places for a needless accident with Pedro de la Rosa.

As it was, Sauber signed up Heinz-Harald Frentzen for 2003, offering Massa the role of test driver, which he declined in favour of the same role at Ferrari.

Following a season of testing, Massa was once again confirmed as a Sauber driver for 2004, in what speculation suggested was a calculated move by Ferrari to bring the Brazilian back in F1 so that he could gain more experience before moving back to the Scuderia at a later stage.

After struggling to match Giancarlo Fisichella, Massa remained with Sauber in 2005 where he was joined by 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve, and thereby given the chance to really demonstrate his talent.

However, had it not been for his sixth-placed finish in Bahrain, the Brazilian would have spent the entire season trailing his team-mate in the points table despite largely having the upper hand on GP weekends.

A difficult season for Sauber, though, ended with Massa 13th in the drivers' table, two points ahead of 'JV'.

His reward was considerable: a race seat with Ferrari as a replacement for the outgoing Rubens Barrichello.

Alongside Michael Schumacher, 2006 was to prove the pivotal season in Massa's nascent career.

He performed more than admirably after a slow start to the season and was soon challenging Schumacher in both qualifying and the races. He claimed three pole positions and more importantly, two victories, Turkey and Brazil, with the latter seeing him become the first Brazilian since the late great Ayrton Senna to win the Sao Paulo race.

A third-placed finish in the drivers' championship saw him finish the season ahead of the likes of Giancarlo Fisichella and his 2007 Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.

Out from Schumacher's shadow in 2007 and with Raikkonen as a team-mate with equal rights, don't bet against Massa causing more than a few ripples.