Felipe Massa Returns to Istanbul: A Celebration of His Legacy
Felipe Massa walks back into Istanbul like a man returning to his own circuit.
Days before he climbs into a Formula 1 car again to mark the 20th anniversary of his first F1 victory at Istanbul Park, the Brazilian spent Saturday not in a garage, but under ancient stone and Ottoman domes, retracing a different kind of history.
The “King of Istanbul” comes home
Massa’s day began beneath the city rather than above it, descending into the Basilica Cistern on the Historic Peninsula – a sixth-century underground reservoir whose cool, echoing chambers are a world away from the searing heat of a V8 engine. From there he moved through the heart of old Istanbul, taking in the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque and Sultanahmet Square, the city’s historic core on the European side.
Hosted by the Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA) under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, he later crossed into the modern, frenetic energy of Taksim for an “F1 Movie Night” at the open-air Atatürk Cultural Center (AKM). Fans clustered around him, not for a race start, but for stories.
For Istanbul, Massa is not just another former driver passing through. He is the man who made this track his own.
Between 2006 and 2008, in Ferrari red, he won three consecutive Turkish Grands Prix at Istanbul Park. No one else has matched that run. The streak earned him a nickname that has stuck for nearly two decades: the “King of Istanbul.” Three of his 11 career F1 victories came at this single circuit, carved into the city’s Asian side.
“I love Türkiye, I love Istanbul. I am very happy to be back after so long. Istanbul is a very special city for me. I experienced some of the best moments of my life and career here,” he said, the emotion still clear after all these years.
He knows every rise and fall of Istanbul Park. He called it a track that blends high and low-speed corners with real elevation change, and singled out the famous Turn 8 – the multi-apex left-hander that hammers drivers with sustained G-forces – as the corner that defines the place.
Istanbul back on the calendar
The timing of his visit is no coincidence. Istanbul is preparing to step back into Formula 1’s spotlight.
The Turkish Grand Prix is set to rejoin the F1 calendar for a five-year run starting on the weekend of October 1–3, 2027. The asphalt that made Massa a three-time winner is being readied for a new generation.
Asked about the race’s return, he didn’t hesitate. Istanbul Park, he said, fits the current crop of stars, picking out Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton as drivers whose style suits the sweeping, high-load layout. He also predicted strong local interest once the circus rolls back into town; this is a city that remembers the roar of those early V8 years.
His own record is on the line. Three straight wins at this circuit is a high bar, but Massa is realistic enough to know records are built to be broken. He named Kimi Antonelli, Max Verstappen and Norris as the kind of talents who could one day string together a similar run here.
If that happens, it will only underline what Istanbul Park has always been: a driver’s circuit, ruthless and rewarding in equal measure.
Ferrari in the heart, 2008 in the courts
The conversation inevitably drifted from the past to the present and the unresolved.
Pressed on which team he would choose if he ever returned to the grid, Massa acknowledged Mercedes’ current competitiveness, but his answer came from the heart rather than the timing screens. Ferrari, he said, remains his personal preference. He called the Scuderia “family” – the same word he used for the team in his racing days, and one that clearly still fits.
The warmth of those memories stands in sharp contrast to the cold legal battle that continues to shadow his career.
Massa again underlined his belief that his 2008 world championship was taken from him in the wake of the “Crashgate” scandal. That season, shaped by the manipulated Singapore Grand Prix, still burns. He has launched legal action against the FIA, Formula 1’s commercial rights holder FOM, and former F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone over the outcome of that title fight. The case remains ongoing, a reminder that for all the romance of comebacks and anniversaries, some wounds in this sport never fully close.
Yet even in that context, he chose to dwell on one of the brightest chapters of his Ferrari years: sharing a garage with Michael Schumacher. Racing alongside the seven-time world champion, Massa said, gave him not just a teammate but a mentor who became “like family.” The bond between the two drivers, forged in the pressure cooker of Maranello, still defines how he talks about that era.
Two decades on from his first Istanbul win, Felipe Massa walks the city as both legend and litigant, tourist and track king. Soon the engines will fire again at Istanbul Park, and a new generation will attack Turn 8 in cars he never had the chance to drive.
The question now is simple: when they arrive in 2027, will they be chasing only his lap times and his record – or also the justice he still believes that season owes him?
