What next for Felipe Massa?

It’s easy to overlook the fact that, had events at Interlagos five years ago unfolded just slightly differently, the career of a Formula One champion would now be in a state of limbo.

Though the announcement on Wednesday that Kimi Raikkonen will re-join Ferrari next season alongside Fernando Alonso leaves Felipe Massa facing an uncertain future, that isn't to say the Brazilian's time as a top Grand Prix driver is up.

Massa’s struggles since Alonso joined him at Ferrari at the start of 2010 have been well documented. It’s fair to say that the Scuderia have been more tolerant of his lacklustre form than most teams would have been, given Felipe's status as "one of the family."

Massa leaving the team is likely to benefit both parties. While Ferrari now have a driver that can stretch Alonso further and allow the team to mount a more credible challenge for constructors' honours, Massa has a chance to revitalise a career that clearly was heading nowhere.

At only 32 years of age, Massa is hardly past it. The talent that saw him come so agonisingly close to title glory in 2008 is still there, even if his terrible accident at Hungary the following year may have deprived of him of that final percent of raw speed he once possessed.

As Massa’s compatriot Rubens Barrichello can demonstrate, there can be life after Ferrari. Few would have foreseen that, having left the Prancing Horse (voluntarily, it should be added) at the end of 2005, 'Rubinho' would go on to make a further seven podium appearances, including two wins. That's not a bad return for somebody who never got anywhere near winning a world championship.

As such, it's not totally unrealistic to think that Massa, armed with sufficiently competitive machinery, couldn't go on to rack up quite a few more wins even if he's highly unlikely to get a better shot at the title than the one he had five years ago.

Raikkonen's departure from Lotus leaves an obvious vacancy, by far the most attractive of the remaining seats (technically, McLaren are yet to take up their option on Jenson Button, but that seems a formality). While Massa isn't the only contender, with Nico Hulkenberg and Pastor Maldonado also thought to be under consideration, he would make a good fit for a team that still burns with ambition.

The Enstone-based team, which has raced under the Toleman, Benetton, Renault and Lotus guises throughout its history, is no stranger to winning titles. It took back-to-back championships in 1994 and 1995 with Michael Schumacher, and did so again with Alonso in 2005 and 2006. 

The team may be going through a financial rough patch at the moment, but, with adequate investment and the right person in the cockpit, there's no reason why they can't challenge for more titles in the future. 

While there's a very good argument for Lotus to take a punt on the talented Hulkenberg (indeed, I would have preferred Ferrari to give the German the nod over Raikkonen), Massa would fit the bill if the team were looking for a more like-for-like replacement for the departed Raikkonen, particularly when you consider that the quick but inconsistent Romain Grosjean is likely to remain in the second car.

Still, should Lotus turn Massa down, there are a couple of other options open to him. One is to return to Sauber, where he began his career back in 2002, who could find themselves in a position to move back up the grid in a couple of years' time with the help of Russian funds that will be flowing to Hinwil in exchange for granting the Formula Renault 3.5 driver Sergey Sirotkin a race seat next year.

Esteban Gutierrez's seat with Sauber appears in doubt with the Mexican's chief backer Telmex rumoured to be unveiled as McLaren's new title sponsor in December. This would potentially create a gap for Massa to slot into, who would be the perfect foil to the inexperienced Sirotkin. Such a move would probably depend on Ferrari being willing to pay Massa's salary however, perhaps by way of a reduced engine supply fee.

It also depends on Massa being willing to drive for a team whose rightful place is in the midfield, but as last year proved Sauber are capable of punching considerably above their weight in the right circumstances. And, he would be well placed to benefit should a car manufacturer or other major corporation propel the Swiss outfit back towards the front of the grid much as BMW did several years ago.

The other team that may realistically consider Massa is Williams. While Valtteri Bottas is unlikely to be going anywhere soon, Maldonado heading to Lotus next season is not as distant a prospect as it may sound, given the Venezuelan's Grand Prix winner status and his enormous PDVSA backing.

Williams is a team that has unquestionably underperformed in recent years. Had Maldonado not made as many mistakes last season, and if the team had fielded a second driver who was equally quick as him in place of Bruno Senna, they ought to have come sixth, or even fifth, in the constructors' standings rather than the eighth place they ultimately mustered.

A return to the glory days of the 1990s is of course unrealistic with their current financial resources, but, given that Williams employs 520 people, making it the fifth largest team on the grid in terms of personnel, nipping at the heels of the established top teams is what they ought to aim for.

A switch to Mercedes power next year as well as the recent recruitment of former Benetton/Renault Technical Director Pat Symonds are reasons for Williams fans to be optimistic that the team can come to do just that in the not-too-distant future.

As 2012 proves however, any renaissance will be dependent upon having a suitably strong driver in the cockpit to exploit the machinery to its fullest - and that's where Massa comes in. With the team fully behind him, and with relatively little expectation weighing him down, Felipe would be in a far better position to perform at his optimum with Williams than he has been in recent times at Ferrari.

With five or so years potentially left in him at the highest level, trying to add to his win tally of 11 in any of the above three scenarios would surely prove more attractive to Massa than trying to break into another category such as IndyCar.

Barrichello showed last year just how hard trying to forge a career Stateside is after a lengthy spell in F1, and there's little reason to suspect Massa would fare any better without a seat with one of the series' top teams. Brazilian Stock Cars hasn't exactly proved a particularly happy hunting ground for F1 alumni, either.

Massa still has much to offer F1; in the right environment, the talent that flourished so brightly in 2008 could well come to the fore once again. In many ways, though, taking him on would represent more of a gamble than recruiting a well-financed young gun, and it would be an almighty shame if no teams were prepared to make that gamble next season.