Visiting Sao Paulo, Venturi Racing driver Felipe Massa had fun with his childhood idol Marcio Santos in the largest kartodrome in Brazil.
The place chosen by Felipe Massa to 'recharge his batteries’ before the start of the new season of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship was his native Sao Paulo and in this case, we organised a fun afternoon with a surprise: former footballer Marcio Santos.
Santos was not only world champion with the Brazilian national team in the United States 94, but also was captain in the club of which Massa is a great fan, Sao Paulo FC.
When asked what he was doing when Marcio Santos raised the World Cup 25 years ago, Massa recalled that at that time he was, "12 or 13 years old and it was really exciting to see how the whole team put the flag of Brazil in style”.
Felipe and Marcio have known each other for many years, but they were far from friends on track. While the race was informal, the two battled it out in all-electric go-karts, created in Campinas, just outside Sao Paulo.
“I have competed in traditional karting, but I had never done so in electric ones. They have much better acceleration, they're very fast and lots of fun, ” said Marcio Santos after the competition.
"I am passionate about football," Massa continued, "and even more so Marcio being a Sao Paulo player and captain," said the 38-year-old, who became known worldwide after nearly two decades in Formula One.
The sixth season of Formula E will be the second for Massa, who will once again get behind the wheel of the new Mercedes-Benz EQ-powered Venturi car, alongside teammate Edoardo Mortara.