Felipe Massa

Largely because of Robert Kubica's injuries, Massa will remain with the Italian stable in 2012 - but even the Brazilian admits he has to improve to hang into his seat.

Massa's joined the F1 grid in 2002 with Sauber but failed to impress in the early stages of his career, often paying second fiddle to his team-mates.

His big chance came in 2006 when he joined Ferrari as a replacement for the outgoing Rubens Barrichello.

The Brazilian performed more than admirably after a slow start to the season and was soon challenging team-mate Michael Schumacher in both qualifying and races. He claimed two victories - in Turkey and Brazil - with the latter seeing him become the first Brazilian since Ayrton Senna to win the Sao Paulo race.

A third-placed finish in the Drivers' Championship saw him finish the season ahead of the likes of Giancarlo Fisichella and his 2007 Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.

However, the Brazilian lost out to Raikkonen in their first season as team-mates, finishing fourth in the standings while the Finn clinched the '07 Drivers' Championship title.

In 2008, Massa emerged as Ferrari's No1 driver and was in the hunt for a first crown until the season-ending Brazilian GP when he was denied by Lewis Hamilton's dramatic final lap.

The Brazilian began 2009 in disappointing fashion but his season ended during qualifying for the Hungarian GP when he was hit on the helmet by a spring that had broken loose from a rival's car, knocking him unconscious and sending him hurtling into the barriers. With his life hanging in the balance, he was taken to a Budapest hospital for emergency surgery having suffered skull fractures.

Massa was placed in a medically induced coma as doctors waiting for the swelling to subside before he was finally able to leave hospital 10 days after the accident.

The Brazilian came back in steady fashion in 2010 but was forced to a supporting role alongside new team-mate Fernando Alonso, culminating in the infamous 'move over' in Germany.

Massa continued with Ferrari in 2011 but failed to match Alonso, failed to reach the podium and failed to avoid contact with Hamilton no fewer than six times, resulting in some lurid headlines.

The Brazilian will be looking to make headlines for all the right reasons in 2012 - but he knows making a fast start will be vital.