Massa to wave Interlagos chequered flag

The race-finishing chequered flag at Interlagos next weekend will be waved by none other than Felipe Massa. This year marks the first time since 2003 in which local man Massa - who won in 2006 and 2008 - will not race in São Paulo, leaving Rubens Barrichello as the sole Brazilian in the field.

Having been injured in his freak qualifying crash at the Hungaroring, Massa has been out of action but will be testing the 2007 Ferrari in Italy next week. After that, the Paulista will travel home to greet fellow F1 colleagues at the circuit before welcoming the winner over the line on Sunday.

Massa becomes the third celebrity flag waver in Brazil since 2002; the leading cars that year were in fact missed on that occasion by football hero Pele, who could be seen chatting as Michael and Ralf Schumacher crossed the line. In 2004, model Gisele Bundchen did the honours as Juan-Pablo Montoya won Williams' last Grand Prix to date.

Source: gpupdate.net