Felipe Massa and Jenson Button won’t be on the Formula One grid next season, but that doesn’t mean that they won’t be racing anymore. Like so many former F1 drivers before them, each is evaluating other racing disciplines in which to compete next season.
For Massa, the choices apparently come down to either DTM, WEC or Formula E. Germany’s popular (and highly competitive) touring car series, DTM has been the refuge of many retired F1 drivers after their grand-prix careers were done – among them Mika Hakkinen, David Coulthard, Jean Alesi, and Heinz-Harald Frentzen.
The FIA World Endurance Championship (and its headline race at Le Mans) has also attracted many former F1 drivers, most notably in recent years Mark Webber, Anthony Davidson and Alex Wurz.
Both the Formula E championships so far have been won by former F1 drivers as well: namely Nelson Piquet Jr and Sebastien Buemi. Speaking with Motorsport.com, Massa said is not interested in moving back across the Atlantic, either to IndyCars in the United States or stock cars in his native Brazil (as Rubens Barrichello has done).
Button is in a bit of a different situation, however, as his departure from F1 is billed as a temporary sabbatical. The former world champ is taking a back seat at McLaren and some personal time off, but with racing in his blood, he’s not likely to sit still for long. The former world champ indicated to Motorsport.com in a separate report that he could try his hand at rallycross or Japan’s Super GT series.
Though rallycross has yet to draw as many drivers from F1 as it has from the World Rally Championship and other series, former F1 champ Jacques Villeneuve briefly drove in the 2014 FIA FIA World Rallycross Championship, and the current reigning champ in the rival Global Rallycross series, Scott Speed, once drove in F1. Several less prominent former F1 drivers have competed in Super GT, including David Brabham, Pedro de la Rosa, Ralf Schumacher, Tonio Liuzzi, and Heikki Kovalainen.
Photo Gallery
