Last year, Kimi Raikkonen was arguably one of the most surprising rookies to join Formula One in recent years, and the credit for his introduction ought to fully go to Peter Sauber - one of the most low-keyed team owners in the F1 paddock. Now, having lost Raikkonen to McLaren, the Swiss entrepreneur is trying to repeat his 2001 success with yet another fresh and promising young star-to-be. Timothy Collings caught up with Felipe Massa in Brazil, and interviewed Peter Sauber exclusively for Atlas F1

The first time you set eyes on Felipe Massa, it happens: you realise just how old you feel. How time has marched on. That the policemen in Britain are no longer avuncular old friends, but fresh-faced youths in uniforms. This 20-year-old is one of them, a signal that the new boys are here and the old guard are greying and looking over their shoulders. Even Nick Heidfeld.

Then you look around the Sauber garage and you see the rest of them. Such a smart, cool and decent team. Peter Sauber, of course, is not young in image or style, but his team make up for that. Will anyone argue if I say that the Sauber Petronas team are the sharpest of them all these days? On a budget that Ron Dennis might not even rise from his bed to consider, Peter Sauber and his men have led many richer and more glamorous outfits a merry dance this last 18 months or more.

The trick, of course, has been that he has developed carefully. He has worked his way through the grid, almost imperceptibly, collecting ideas and developing his own talent. He has men of real worth, he knows how to build a team, he has created drivers from seemingly nowhere and he has delivered the results that have kept Ferrari happy to do business. It would be unfair to compare him with Alain Prost, but it is a thought worthy of consideration, because it brings into profile the achievement of Sauber.

Think, also, of Eddie Jordan. Another man who has built a team and created talented drivers for others. In Sauber's case, last year, it was Kimi Raikkonen. A year ago, as we were preparing to go to Imola, his was the name on many lips. Kimi who? Now it is Kimi Raikkonen of McLaren. And it is likely to be goodbye forever to Mika Hakkinen the way things are going, unless David Coulthard abandons his travails. So, in his stead, Sauber have introduced another white rabbit from their magical hat: Massa.

On first impressions, he is a clean-living, nice-looking and straightforward boy. Just 20, he is the youngest driver on this year's grid. He has little real experience. He likes jeans and polo or t-shirts. He has a typically-Brazilian casual air, but his relaxed demeanour hides a steely determination to succeed. He is not unlike his predecessor in this way. Raikkonen was not much of a talker, but, by thunder, he could race. Massa can do both. And smile and be charming.

He sits often with his parents in the family atmosphere surroundings of the Sauber team's hospitality area. His father is Luiz Antonio Massa and his mother is Ana Elena Massa. They are both from Sao Paulo, brown-eyed and wide-smiled, flashing white teeth and laughter. Both are enormously proud of the boy who has risen through the ranks of the karters on the trail of such trail-blazers as Ayrton Senna and Rubens Barrichello. Massa, born on April 25th 1981, is one of a special band of Paulistas, born with a heritage in the hub of Brazil's motor racing heartland.

His team chief is guarded about him. His parents are generous and warm. Luiz talks freely of his son's ambition and hard-working approach, his dedication and his sense of direction. But Sauber, the man who has puffed cigars, made some money, built a team and launched Kimi Raikkonen, is more reserved.

"It is difficult for him (Massa) and I think it is also difficult for the team because last year with Kimi it was a risk and we took the risk," he explains. "If you take a second risk the chances of making a mistake are bigger. But I am really happy because the pressure on him is so big and he didn't make a big mistake when he started.

"The problem, for me, is not that he makes a mistake when he is going too fast, it is a question of concentration. And, during the race weekend, he is nervous and the concentration is there."

Those who saw Massa in action in Melbourne, Sepang or Interlagos, will know he has speed. Raw speed. And that he also has plenty of ability to handle that speed with more than an average level of confidence and panache. This kid is fast. He is also smart and well-managed.

His manager is Riccardo Tedeschi, the man who guided Rubens Barrichello's early career, who is a close friend of his father. Since they teamed up, young Massa's career has taken off. He has won four titles, collected 14 wins in Italian Formula Renault and European Formula 3000, in which he won the title last year, and proved, with his gritty sixth place finish in Malaysia, that he has what it takes. He is made of the right stuff and he has the natural dash. It has been there since he was first thrown into karting as a nine-year-old in 1990.

In Australia, at Albert Park, Sauber was full of glee at what he had seen. "The key sector is the third one," he explained back then. "Massa got the same speed as Montoya, as Ralf, and was very close to Coulthard. He was faster than Raikonnen and faster than Fisichella. That is important. Don't forget, also, that Nick (Heidfeld) only had one outing."

The genial smile tells its own story. When Sauber talks about Massa and his men, he talks with satisfaction. He gives away more, too, than the Massa family as they sit and sip soft drinks in the sunshine. In Asia, they were relaxed, but in Brazil, of course, it was a different story. The sun came out, so did the pressure from the public and the whole family found the experience more daunting. The return to Europe will come as a relief. Now give them time.

"He (Massa) is one year younger (than Raikonnen) and he is really like a child," says Peter Sauber. "So young. Last year, there was a lot of noise in the press about our drivers. And there was the fuss made about the girlfriends and so on.

"The reason, for me, was that Kimi and Nick are very nice boys and if the girlfriends are with them they have to look after them too much - in the mornings, in the hotels, in the evenings. They are freer without them. When I stay on a race weekend, I am alone with my schedule. If my wife is there, I have to look after her in the morning, and for the whole day, and the concentration is not the same. That was the reason for the ban last year. It is not such a problem now - Massa doesn't have a girlfriend."

Sauber believes it is too early to talk of Massa as a future ace. Or as a winner. Or, as some believe, as a Champion. "It is too early (to tell how good Massa is). The important thing is speed and the speed is there. The temperament is totally different from Kimi. Kimi is cool and Massa is a Brazilian and that is important. For him, the important thing is that he can stay with the team for a minimum of one year because the team is like a family here. The contract with him is not the same as it was with Kimi.

"We have the option for both sides. We have the contract for three or four years, but we have the option for both sides. If he would like to leave, after one year, it is possible.

"He (Massa) will take the flat from Kimi. Kimi has bought a house very close, on the other side of the Zurich Lake, and so, when the flat is free, Massa will take the flat. It is good that they are like that, one following the other. It is good for them, for the team and for other drivers who know about Sauber and the way we work.

"I think Nick is very important for the team, especially now in the second year. He understands the team, the direction of the team and he works very well together with the rest of the team. He knows the pressures. It will be much more difficult to stay in fourth place. It was difficult to reach but it will be more difficult to do that again."

Regardless, Sauber is pleased. Amid financial and structural instability within the teams neighbouring him in the pitlane, Sauber remains largely untouched - even the sale of the Red Bull stakes, which Sauber himself bought and immediately sold to Credit Suisse, went by efficiently and quietly, Sauber's trademark style in Formula One.

"I am very happy at the moment with the team," Sauber says. "It is stable and we are in a consolidation situation and that is important. The key people are really good and work very well. At the moment, the teams behind us - Renault, the Honda teams and Jaguar - all these teams are fighting for the fourth place, but in the end they have to do better.

"Renault and the Honda teams must want to be World Champions because these teams put an incredible amount of money into Formula One and they have to be World Champion (to justify that), and that is so difficult. The pressure is so high and for us it is a little bit easier, because it is not our goal to be World Champions. It is to keep this fourth place. And we have time, the others have no time, they have to push.

"Honda made the decision to give their engine to two teams and, I think, it is difficult for them to drive only with one because they would have to make a decision about which direction to go. For us, it is easier now (to get people to come to Switzerland) because the team has had success. If I look for key people, a race engineer for example, it is more difficult but if these people do come, they like to stay. One, for example, has stayed with his family here, his children go to school here and they would like to stay in Switzerland.

Nevertheless, to carry on this stability beyond 2002, Sauber needs a long term engine contract. "Our contract with Ferrari goes until the end of the season, so now I am looking for a five years one," Sauber says, quickly adding: "although that may be too much."

"But now there is a contract between Petronas and Ferrari and Sauber," he says. "They are the three contracts. Our engine manufacturer is Petronas and they have badged the Ferrari. The other teams are the same. The Ford engine was never a Ford engine but a Cosworth. Cosworth was never a Ford company, but together with Rolls Royce, and the engine was a badged engine. That is a normal way and now we are working on a new contract with Petronas and Ferrari. For me it is a very good solution.

"Of course, we have less power and the engine is a little heavier, but when I start with a new car in May I know exactly the engine, the weight, the dimensions, the performance and one important thing - I know exactly how much energy goes to the water and to the oil. The size of the radiator is very important. That is not only a disadvantage; it is also an advantage when building a new car, especially for a small team.

"But don't forget that we have in the racing department maybe 260 people. In this area, we are the smallest team. We have had only one car testing. If we can stay on this fourth place, then we can look for new goals and I am not under pressure, I have time.

"I have two goals. One is my sporting goal and the other is in my responsibility as an entrepreneur. Remember, we have 260 people. They have a good salary every year. We are growing slowly, but now we are building a new wind tunnel. At the end of 2003 we will have one of the nicest wind tunnels. Maybe in the future we can go together with a big manufacturer. Maybe, it will be with a manufacturer in Formula One, or with one from outside. We shall have to see... There is no rush, is there?"

So, while Sauber contemplates his future in his slow and calculated style, Heidfeld leads the team with increasing levels of confidence and Massa speeds towards early maturity. "Driving a Formula One car was easer than I thought," Massa himself proclaimed at Brazil. "At the beginning, my neck muscles troubled me a lot, but I have done a lot of specific training to overcome that now. It feels better. When I did my first test, last September, in Mugello, I felt it was pretty good. I was worried the second time, but it went well again and I was hopeful that Peter Sauber would call me - and very glad when he did.

"The team is nice. I feel happy with this team. But I do miss Brazilian life and football. I am a fan of the Sao Paulo club, even though my family prefer Santos. So, back in Brazil for the race, it was good for me to have a chance to enjoy my home life again!

"A lot of people have talked to me about my racing. They compare me to other drivers, including Senna. I know. But I am not another Senna at all. I am just a young guy finding my own way. I am enjoying it and if I can emulate my idols, who are Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve, one day I will be happy."

So, too, will Peter Sauber. And that day may not be as far away as they think.