Massa quizzed by the F1 paddock

In an emotional press conference at Monza, Felipe Massa revealed that this season of Formula 1, his 14th, will be his last. Massa, 35, chose to make the announcement at the Italian Grand Prix, just as his great friend and Ferrari mentor Michael Schumacher had done 10 years earlier.

For eight seasons Massa was a Ferrari racer and scored all of his 11 wins with the Italian team. Two landmarks stand out in his career: the championship he held for a matter of seconds until Lewis Hamilton passed Timo Glock at the final corner of the 2008 Brazilian GP to snatch the title from Massa's grasp; and the accident that nearly cost him his life the following year.

Massa sat out the second half of 2009 after he was injured by a spring that broke off Rubens Barrichello's Brawn during qualifying for the Hungarian GP. A year later, on the anniversary of that accident, he was leading in Germany when the now infamous call came through from race engineer Rob Smedley: "Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm you understood that message?"

Dutifully he pulled over and won many admirers that day for his dignified response - just as he had the day he lost the title.

When Massa, now into his third season at Williams, bids farewell at the end of the year, it will be an emotional occasion. Like Jenson Button, he has enjoyed a long career in F1 and commands great respect from his peers.

To demonstrate that, F1 Racing marked his retirement with a special twist on its 'You Ask The Questions' format, in which the questions come from the great and the good of Formula 1.

Whatever Massa does next, he'll be remembered in F1 for his good grace and sportsmanship. We'll miss his sense of humour, his passion and his ever-present family.

With that in mind, what better place to begin than this query from his former Ferrari team-mate Fernando Alonso...

Your son Felipinho plays football very well. When he grows up, would you rather he became a footballer or an F1 driver?
Fernando Alonso, two-time Formula 1 champion

I would say a football player is much better since that will be a lot cheaper for me! I've already told him that if he wants to play football, I'll pay for that budget. But if he wants to be an F1 driver, then I'll be really restricted in money - and he'll have to find a sponsor.

Felipe, Formula 1 world champion or the winning goal scorer for Brazil in a World Cup Final - which would you choose?
Pat Symonds, Williams chief technical officer

Well, I have to say Formula 1 world champion - that has always been my dream and, actually, Brazil have won everything in football already. We are the only country who have won the World Cup five times and now we also have the Olympic gold for football, achieved this summer in Brazil.

What was the most important lesson you learnt during your first season in F1?
Jo Ramirez, former McLaren team co-ordinator

In my first season I learnt a massive amount. I was only 20 years old, which was really young. I had no experience in F1 prior to coming into a race, all I had was a few tests at the end of 2001. I was always very quick, very competitive, but I was just a kid and all I wanted was to go as fast as I could on every lap. As a result, the chances of making a mistake were much bigger.

In F1, every lap needs to be the perfect lap, and if you push the whole time, you don't gain the experience to know when to moderate your performance. You don't know how the tyres are, or the car, or what you need to do in a race compared with qualifying to get a perfect lap.

This is what I learnt in my first year in 2002. I had a lot of attention, had some amazing results, but I also made a lot of mistakes as well.

I know how it felt when you lost the championship in 2008. But tell us how you really felt?
Niki Lauda, three-time Formula 1 champion

It was harder for the people watching on TV. They were analysing the race and watching what was happening. I didn't have that. I knew I was in first place and that was all I needed to do. In my mind, I knew things could change every lap and all I could do was win the race - which is what I did.

So the victory helped me. I couldn't do anything else. I started on pole, got the fastest lap and won the race. That was a big help for me.

Are you driving better than ever?
Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso driver

I would say so. I think so. The experience helps and I'm trying everything I can in the car. It doesn't matter if you look in the mirror and see that you are 35 years old and you have 15 years of Formula 1 behind you. I still try everything that I can in the car, and I can say that am still as competitive as I was earlier in my career.

What advice would you give to the young Felipe Massa sitting on the grid for his first grand prix in Australia 2002?
Guenther Steiner, Haas team principal

It's similar to what I said earlier. The specific advice would be to make the first corner because, if you remember, I couldn't! Not that it was my fault, but another car hit me at Turn 1. The advice would be: 'Don't worry about the start, get to the first corner, make it round and then your chances of finishing the race will be much better.'

How the hell did you survive the pressures of Ferrari?
Allan McNish, Le Mans winner and F1 broadcaster

[Laughs] I don't know man! It's true I had a lot of pressure at Ferrari. There is more pressure at Ferrari than at any other team in Formula 1.

F1R: Why is that?

FM: Ferrari is like a religion, so you have a lot of pressure from people working inside the team. And from the fans, the media - especially the Italian media, who apply pressure all the time. Whether you have a fantastic car or a difficult year, the pressure is massive, every single day.

But I managed to get through eight years - nine if you include my year as a test driver - and it was definitely a good but difficult time.

Why don't you accept that you crashed into me in Canada in 2014?
Sergio Perez, Force India driver

[Laughs] So, actually, why don't you accept that you crashed into me? That memory is part of our history together and I tried everything I could to get to the podium in that race. I was fourth going for third and unfortunately you moved the car under braking - but I'm sure you've learned and you won't do that any more.

What was your favourite road car?
Romain Grosjean, Haas F1 driver

This is a difficult question. I have had many favourites throughout my whole life. My first car was a Fiat Palio, a 1,000cc-engined car that was really slow, but I had no money so I was just happy to be able to own my first car. But I think my dream car is a La Ferrari - which I now own.

What is your favourite dish?
Lewis Hamilton, three-time F1 world champion

I love all different types of food. I love Italian food and I probably eat more of that than anything else. I like meat, fish, Japanese - unfortunately we cannot eat as much as we'd like to.

We need to take care of our diet and do a lot of sports, but when I have a little more time in Brazil I love to eat a white rice and black bean dish with a grilled steak and French fries. I always dream of that when I think of going back home.

When you pass Fernando Alonso, do you think about Hockenheim 2010?
Martin Brundle, Le Mans winner and F1 broadcaster

[Laughs] To be honest, no, when I pass Fernando Alonso I'm actually just really happy because he's a very good driver. He's very aggressive and not easy to overtake, so when I pass him I'm happy.

After F1, what will you do next? Would you drive in another series or stay on in F1 - maybe as a sporting director?
Marc Gene, Le Mans winner and Ferrari test driver

I will keep racing since that is what I love to do. Where? I don't know, but I will keep working on it. A sporting director? I won't do that, but I would consider another championship. I love to race. I need to do what I love, but time will tell what I actually do.

Why did you go the European F3000 route on your way up to F1? How did you manage to shine when most drivers progressed through International F3000?
Marc Hynes, 1999 British F3 champion and Lewis Hamilton's advisor

I had the chance to go to Formula 3 since I had an offer from [former Renault boss] Flavio Briatore to join his junior programme there. I also had an offer from Pedro Paulo Diniz to be part of his young driver set-up - at the time he owned part of the Prost team.

After I won the two Formula Renault titles in Eurocup and in Italy in 2000, I had an offer from Toyota. Everyone was trying to sign me, but I said no to Toyota, no to Diniz, no to Briatore.

My manager at the time was Adriano Morini, the founder of the Draco Formula 3000 team. He wanted me in his team whatever the cost and he helped me say no to all of these people and crucially he was the guy who helped me get to Ferrari. So I know now that it was a good thing to say no to all these other people.

What went through your mind when you pulled out of the Singapore pits in 2008 with the fuel hose still attached?
Mark Arnall, Kimi Raikkonen's trainer

That was a mistake in the pitstop with a guy who was controlling the red and green lights in front of me. But these things happen. I was so disappointed because I had the victory in my pocket. I qualified first and was running well ahead of second - the race was mine.

Later I was so disappointed when I discovered why we had the safety car in the race [Nelson Piquet crashed to enable his team-mate Alonso to win] and for me that was not part of the sport. It was the worst thing that happened in 2008.

How did you face getting back into a car after what happened to you at Hungary in 2009? And how were you able to carry on with no apparent effect on your driving?
Ivan Capelli, former Ferrari driver and F1 broadcaster

I don't remember anything about my accident. What I can recall is about six months afterwards when I got back into a racing car again. I wanted to be quick and I managed to do quick lap times and I understood that everything was normal.

Not remembering anything about the actual crash was probably the best thing that happened to me, because if I did remember something, that might have changed how I felt about it.

As a driver who has survived a serious head injury in Formula 1, what is your opinion on F1 having halos or aeroscreens... or nothing at all?
Jonathan Palmer, former F1 driver and racetrack owner

The halo is a very important thing. We need to be 100 per cent sure we don't have problems with the halo. It's also important that we continue to have safety improvements.

Only recently I saw an accident in the IndyCar race at Pocono, where in the pitlane Helio Castroneves was very lucky [when the car of Alex Rossi was launched close to the Castroneves' head]. It's more proof that the halo is important and they need to hurry up with introducing it.

We need to get it on the car and drive, rather than just doing installation laps or simulation work - that's the best thing we can do and I'm all in favour of it.

Did you achieve your full career potential?
Damon Hill, 1996 F1 world champion

I would say so, but I missed the championship. This is something I always dreamed of - as every driver does. I passed really close and I would say I have been a very successful driver with a great career in F1.

I can say I am very proud of everything that I have achieved.