Mark Blundell: Massa To Be Serious 2008 Title Contender

(form autosport.com)

Former Grand Prix driver Mark Blundell is tipping Felipe Massa to mount a strong championship challenge this season.

Blundell believes the Brazilian has served his apprenticeship at Ferrari and is ready to step into the limelight.

Speaking on the stage at the Autosport International Show, Blundell said: "I think Massa has the potential to give Lewis [Hamilton], Kimi [Raikkonen], and everyone else a big headache this year.

"I think he's got a real chance of pulling off a world title. He's done his homework in the time he's been at Ferrari. He's learned from Michael [Schumacher], he supported Kimi well last year, and the team has supported him in return with a new contract.

"I think Ferrari will give him everything he needs to go for the championship this season and I think he could do it."

 

I think Massa has improved every year and is now a proven winner. But I still don't see him as a title contender.
Why?
- He is prone to making errors
- Is not that special in the wet,
- Is only okay at wheel to wheel combats and overtaking from the rear
- Seems to fade to obscurity in some tracks

 

...we need to give our Massa kid a good-reliable car, and he´ll be Champion this time around...no doubt in my mind.

 

+1

 

Substitute Massa's name with Rubens and you have the same story and my guess is....the same ending.

I hope he does well but to win a title based on past performances? No.

 

+1

 

As much as I don't care for Massa, he is obviously a title contender. The speed difference between him and Kimi is far less than was between Schumi & Rubens.

 

Massa will win the WDC he needs to if he don´t want to be another RB in the grid. Or at least beat Kimi

 

Massa ain't ready yet to take a title. The reason's are already have been in this topic. He was havin' a nice position last year to go for it, but because of his driving abilities he didn't. I think he is far away from that.

 

I keep thinking of the beginning of the season, where Massa couldn't pass Hamilton with the faster car and eventually went off the course, Massa's a good driver but not in the same class as the Raikkonens or Schumachers.

 

+1

Last year it was Windsor and his "Massappeal", this year it is Blundell predicting the title for Massa. I'm sure some other clown will predict it in a year from now when Massa yet again will not have won the title. He had his best chance last year sitting in the best car and with years of experience ahead of his team mate who struggled to come to terms with the new situation (team, car and tires). But Massa made too many mistakes and eventually the momentum swung the other way. Now Kimi is firmly in control of the car and the team and will lead from the start.

However I do find this thread fascinating as it shows who still hasn't gotten the message and believes in wonders.

 

Spot on mate. Massa is a great driver, a race winner. But he is not championship material. He may get a WDC through fortunate circumstances, but not because he is the best driver in the field.

 

If Kimi gets injured this year, then Massa has a good chance. Only then.

 

Then they have to get out the third driver. Who was it, I forget. Eddie Irvine?

 

I don't think Massa is a great driver but he is plenty good enough to keep a great car in front of everyone else. If Kimi does not push or has bad luck, it is entirely likely Felipe will prevail over the rest of the field.

My interpretation of last season was that he carried the team for the first half of the season and was very close to being THE Ferrari WC contender until he hit a string of bad luck. If the car and team worked okay for him for one additional race, it would have been Kimi getting team orders to pull over for Massa.

 

lots of people here forgot that Massa was leading Ferrari's charge last year, up till Monza. it was that technical error that made him lose ground in the WDC, and Ferrari obviously asked him to help the Kimster.

 

+1
Oh, I thought you were talking about Kimi!!!


Agree Massa needs to drive better in the wet although he did the best he has toward the end of last season as far as wet weather driving, and yes, could be more aggressive in head to head battles but I think he also improved on that.

I think he will be in the hunt right to the end this year and as we saw last year, anything can happen.

 

Uh, baby, don't tease me like that!

 

Running a red light in Canada, loosing in the rain to Alonso, switching off the engine on the grid of the British GP and screwing up the hot lap in Q2 at the Hungarian GP is hardly a "string of bad luck".

Not technical, but driver error.

 

Exactly right. Without Massa, Kimi would still be looking for his first WDC.
It takes skill to win a WDC, but it takes more luck.

 

Brian, you and Yellowbird are the only ones posting something accurate. Massa showed in the last rain race that he is second to none, His winning battle with the BMW proved that. His crew let him down the second half of the year. Including that red light crap in Canada. Todt admitted that someone in the pits should have told Massa about the light. How many of you here have been in the midst of a competitive auto race of any kind? Especially an F1 race? I think most of us would have been blind to that light. Has anyone considered that Massa may have been told to ignore the light by his crew, thinking the stewards may not see it? The championships were that desperate at that time. Todt did not give Massa a lecture after this happened.

Massa still led the season for fastest laps in a race. He is no slouch.

If it were not for Massa, Ferrari and Kimi would never have won either championship. Technical fact.

Massa is WDC material thanks to Michael Schumacher, and I expect this year he proves it.

 

Correction: Ran red light(driver error), got a bad set of vibrating tires which cost him the win(He was faster than alonso in the first rain stint, pulling away from him)(bad luck), Ferrari took blame for engine cutting out on grid(bad luck), not getting filled with enough gas(bad luck).

 

Exactly. Strange as it may sound, Brazil's best open wheelers over the past decade + have been racing in IRL. Flame me all you want, but anyone here who sees Massa as a tougher, more complete racer than Kanaan or Castroneves needs to stop watching races through the hazy smoke emitted from a crack-smoking apparatus.

 

I'll bet he can't dance like Castroneves.

 

Ooooh, he beat a car 3/4 of a second slower than the Ferrari, yep that sure proves something. It proves that a mediocre driver can make a car as good as the Ferrari barely capable of beating a slower car, that's what it proves.

I seem to recall him failing to pass anyone...anyone...at the Hungaroring last season. That is a track, like Monaco, which separates the drivers who can pass from the drivers who can't. Massa can't.