I really like this guy . . . . He down plays the fact that he's outpaced Kimi in most of the testing but states that that testing is testing and the races will show true form. He's very upbeat saying he's changed alot and is stronger mentally. Also goes on to say he's improved over the last couple years and is more experienced but can still improve more. He says this is a great time for himself and a great moment in his career. UPBEAT, TRUTHFUL, POSITIVE and TEAM LOYALTY are attributes he exhibits to me. (attributes required to be on a winning team - he had a wonderful teacher) Carol Go Massa - WDC 2007
I agree Carol. Massa will surprise. I like his attitude, not at all presumptious. I think the pairing of Massa and Raikkonen will prove to be the only team with two #1 drivers. They will work well together. Word I hear is that the team - engineers to tire changers - have gotten behind Massa almost like they were for Schumacher. They are still trying to figure out Kimi. Even though I have had to endure constant hazing about my stance in support of Massa's chances in 2007, I will say that I might have even underestimated him. Maybe he will grow to be as quick as Kimi in the long run. Maybe quicker.
Maybe he knows something we don't? What was that famous response to being told that so-and-so is a humble man? "Well, he has much to be humble about". We don't know what set-ups he was running relative to Kimi's or what kind of fuel loads, or tires, or any of the myrad of other factors that can affect testing times, nor do we know if Kimi was even trying to set fast times in testing or simply acclimating himself to a enw car and new tires. Being a quick test driver means nothing. Ask Anthony Davidson, Takuma Sato, Pedro de la Rosa, or Alex Wurz how being fast in testing translates into success on race day. Massa looked good in testing last year but on race day, you never knew if he was going to run at the top or in 8th place. We know that Kimi will be there on race day, what we don't know is which Massa will be there? Even though I have had to endure constant hazing for my skepticism of Massa's chances in 2007, one thing I am pretty sure of is that I have not underestimated him. He may be a likeable character and very upbeat of his present situation (how could he not be? What were his other choices, Spyker? STR? the DTM series?) but all he has demonstrated thus far is that he was as far behind Schumacher as Irvine and Barrichello before him and that his inability to pass or his poor driving performance in rain pretty much ensures that he will never be a consistent front-runner, let alone a WDC.
I think just the opposite. We know that Massa is flying, has the momentum from Brasil last year and blitzed the field for most of the week in the last good run before the first race with the car in race trim. He's the odds on fav to take the win on Sunday. I thnk we know which Massa will be there. Kimi, OTOH, we still don't know about in the F2007. I find it hard to believe that he would ease his way around Bahrian only to 'show up to race' at Melbourne. Do you really think that being in a new car, with new tires and in a new team that he'd wait until the first race to find the limits and find out fast he can push the package?
I disagree with your assessment. Kimi is the one I am not yet sure about, at least not for the first 3-4 races.
This is why we run the races The way I see it, I am in a no lose situation: either Massa is a disappointment and I am proved correct...or the Ferrari team has a good season. I will happily eat crow if that is the case, what's my downside?
Kimi will dominate Massa. Don't take my word for it - wait and see. Lots of people willing Felipe to do well. He's a nice guy, I don't doubt that - but nice guy does not make one a better driver. Kimi will wipe the floor with him. You heard it here folks!
The key word here is 'wait'. OK ,we can do that but for how long ??? No, but being tutored by MS for a year does... I'm hearing it everywhere but have yet to see it so far!
Remember what was happening last year? Kimi was slightly slower than his competitors in both practice times and qualifying. On race day, everyone eventually found out that Kimi was the only one running a full load of fuel when everybody else was on fumes! This was what impressed the most last year.
The people on the inside at McLaren believe that Kimi was the fastest driver they ever had. This is a team that had, Lauda, Prost, Senna, and Hakkinen.
I read that also, and they are probably right. They felt that Kimi is even faster than Senna. But driving the first year for Ferrari is much different than driving the first year for McLaren. Or any other team for that matter. Right now, today, one would logically think that Kimi should be faster than Felipe. But that does not take into account about half a dozen other factors. Kimi's personality for one. The Italian team is used to having an outgoing friendly Michael Schumacher that can add to the development of a car. That is not KR. He does no development work. On any other team, that would likely not matter. On the Italian Ferrari team, where emotion is as big a factor as horsepower, that could be worth a few hundreds of a second in longer pit stops, etc. The Bridgestones, coming off of a season ending home country win, having MS as a personal teacher, no hangover, etc, all of this gives Massa a slight edge. Then there is the unknown factor of how much room for improvement does Massa really have? Maybe like some women's breasts, Felipe will be a late bloomer. Maybe he will be better than Kimi, Alonso, or Senna. Who knows? Like one of you said, who cares if we are wrong, as long as it is a Ferrari 1-2 for most of the season.
I actually read it in Autoweek last weeks issue by Nigel Roebuck. He stated that inside team members had made that comment about Kimi, but he was a very quirky fellow. Ron, you might have a point, as Mansell was also a late bloomer and finally came to the fore at Williams after he won a couple of races (teammate was Rosberg) and outshined Piquet in 86 and 87 (though Piquet won the championship with his consistency).
I read the article also. It appeared in an interview yesterday in the electronic version of Autosport magazine.
Only 2 days, then he'll show you Possibly, but a good driver does not necessarily make a good teacher, and I am unsure of how much "teaching" Michael was doing. I think he's in it for himself (as any good racer should be) and while he may have given some pointers to Felipe, I don't think there's much you can tell a guy that will make him fast. They either have "it" or they don't. Kimi does, IMO. I'm telling ya man, 2 days!
In another thread here in this section, Martin Brundle was quoted as saying he believes that Massa has made an incredible improvement since last year, and not only could he be faster than Kimi, but he could likely be 2007 WDC. This is not about putting down Kimi, this is about a driver improving so much that he has the attention of everyone up and down pit row. Even the people I know that are in the pits every session have said that Massa is like a man on fire, with the confidence of a champion. At the end of the day, as long as one of the Ferrari drivers is WDC, and Ferrari has the manufacturer's championship, I really do not care which one of them is faster.
If you guys read recent comments of Todt and Montezemolo, it is obvious they want Kimi to take the WDC this year. They are very complimentary of Massa, but it is clear they "prefer" Kimi to win it. Hmmmm...?
