Felipe Massa says he nearly retired from F1 after his Ferrari stint

The Brazilian won all of his 11 grands prix with Ferrari and missed out on the world championship by a point in 2008 during an eight-year stint with the team.

Massa, who made his debut in 2002 with Sauber, will leave F1 at the end of this campaign having extending his stay with three seasons at Williams.

"I was thinking to do it myself three years ago," said Massa of his decision to quit F1.

"You need to be strong enough to decide things that are sometimes quite difficult. That is what I did.

"I'm relieved and happy with what I'm doing.

"I think this year was the time to do that."

I'M PROUD OF MY CAREER

Massa came within seconds of winning the 2008 world championship only for Lewis Hamilton to snatch it on the final lap of the season finale in Brazil.

The Brazilian pointed to Singapore and Hungary that year as key factors in his narrow title loss.

In Singapore, Massa led early on but failed to score after leaving the pits with the fuel hose still attached, while his engine failed with three laps to go in Hungary four races earlier

"I lost the championship by one point, but I was on pole position and won the race, so I did the best I could," he said of the Interlagos finale.

"It was not depending just on me, it was depending on so many things that happened before.

"I don't like to go there, but Singapore for me was something that was really sad.

"There were other races like Hungary where I had an engine problem but it's part of the sport.

"So many things happened and it would have been different at the end of the season, but anyway...

"As I've said I'm really, really proud of my career.

"In these moments, like I am now, you have to talk with your heart."