Felipe Massa is one of the proudest fathers this Saturday (28) at Interlagos. After all, in his son Pipo’s debut in the Porsche Cup, in his first qualifying session, he already secured pole position in the Carrera Cup Rookie class.
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The Autódromo José Carlos Pace is the stage for the 16-year-old competitor’s first race in professional motorsport. At the end of last year, he even did a day of testing with the category’s car, and now in 2026 he is making the jump to the grid.
Following Pipo closely during the weekend, Felipe highlighted how happy and impressed he is with the pace his son has shown, as he said in an interview with the presence of F1MANIA.NET.
“Very happy, first qualifying of his life, soon he will have the first race of his life. He impressed, took pole at first, went to the track and managed to do a good lap, the track was still dry, but with some damp parts still,” he said.
“So, I think it was very cool, I’m very happy, I’m seeing his happiness too and letting it flow, let him learn. Now there’s the race, without a doubt it will be a very important experience for him, his first race, hopefully it will be, as the first qualifying was, the first race will be exceptional,” he continued.
Read more Felipe Massa’s son, Pipo wins debut race in the Carrera Cup Rookie class
The former Formula 1 and current Stock Car driver also reinforced that he is at Interlagos more as a father than as a coach, since Pipo is assisted by Léo Reis. However, he still gives important tips.
“I prefer to go to the track, I go there to look at the infield and everything, there, so I can see to help him in the sense of like, traffic, clear track, see him, see the line and the other cars too, if I see something different I say it too,” he told F1MANIA.NET.
“I’ll try a bit in this direction, let Léo Reis, who is doing a sensational job helping Pipo not only here on the outside, but also in the car, calibration, car setup, so, I try to stay a bit to the side, but I try to help where I can through the experience I have,” he concluded.
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