Settling old challenges....

Best post I've ever seen you make Brian, well done! Massa deserves massive respect for his overall improvement and commitment. If the Ferrari engine hadn't have blown up at Hungary, he'd be world champion. Well done Felipe!

P.S This is coming from someone who likes Lewis and Kimi more so.

 

Thanks Jim. i certainly can't wait to see if he can repeat the same performance, or better, this year.

 

You're right, and Schumi would have schooled Raikkonen last year and taken that title as well. We can really see how great Schumi was in comparison. It seemed like Ferrari made fewer mistakes with him (on his car at least, sorry Eddie!) Martin Brundle said that he thinks Kimi and Fred would shade him by a few tenths, back in the 2006 season, and I think we can see that he was wrong.

With all the talk of Fred joining Ferrari, if/when it happens, they'll keep Massa instead of Raikkonen. Massa will make a good 2nd driver for Alonso, if he gets set straight and told to behave and accept he's a 2nd driver, or he'll get the boot. I doubt Raikonen will stay in F1 more than another season or two anyways.

 

That's because you are a pencil-necked flyweight on a forum full of heavyweights.

We don't pick on small people here.

 

People keep pointing to Silverstone as a reason why Massa isn't good. But then they'll look at Monaco, and say, "it's mostly the car".

Well, Silverstone was the tires. Massa pushed harder than the car had to give. Kimi faded from 3rd back to 5th. Massa started 9th, so he had to try to move up the order, and the car wouldn't do it.

So ask yourselves, would you have been happier if he'd just tooled around the circuit, fading back two spots? That would have been 11th place. Pushing the car harder than it would go got him down to 13th --- and exactly the same number of points as 11th. (Or 9th, for that matter.) He had no points to lose, so he pushed it.

In Belgium, he started second, and just accepted what the car could give to preserve what he could get, while Kimi and Lewis were pushing their cars beyond their limits. That turned out well, for Massa.

So I'd rate Silverstone as a case of doing the job at hand. Something Massa has shown he's good at.

He may not be a flashy personality or a showy driver. But he does what he can with the tools on hand.
In Italy, just getting to Q3, when others failed, was making the best play out of a poor dealt hand.

 

Yeap. in Silverstone, it was due to teh tires, even Kimi was spinning like a wahsing machine. still, there's no excuse. as a team, Ferrari failed to read the conditions properly, and as a result, failed both Kimi and Massa. the same can be said in Monaco.

However, i still point out that both Massa and Lewis made their fair share of mistakes, with Massa's worst in Malaysia, and Lewis at a Canadian traffic light

 

Exactly. There wasn't much between those two which is reflected in the final race and points standing.

 

I know Mika and he is a great guy. You have characterized him just right.

 

+1. when he first drove for sauber he wasn't mega impressive. I like his dedication though, including learning italian etc...

 

Massa and Ferrari were an embarrassment of the highest order at Silverstone..I laugh when I was rudely called out for saying Massa will struggle in the wet, from a certain guy absent on here.

SPA another total embarrassment where he was handed a win because guys ahead of him were fighting in the wet and the FIA ceased a pathetic moment to tighten the WDC hunt, a total utter farce and complete black day for F1. Ok matters were not in his hands but just to drive to the end ok, but to be given the win after the flag had dropped!!! is no job at hand.

The other points fair comments.

 

+1

 

+100

My take is simply, if the car is set up absolutely perfectly for him and he can put in one perfect lap for quali and most importantly...all his compition is having crazy problems, then Massa can deliver. But is that really Massa "delivering" or is it simply Massa being in the right car at the right time when the stars aligned. Massa was VERY lucky last season. Unfortunately, I don't see all those happening again two seasons in a row. Will be very interestng to see what happens this season for Massa.

 

in my book, the most impressive ones :

Vettel
Alonso
Kubik

















Kova....ok ok i'm jokin now

 

+1

Feel bad for HK...really like him.
Psyched to see if RK and SV can continue to impress.

 

I hate his bubbly personality, his wearing of emotions on his sleeve: Making the face of a five year old with a tantrum when he doesn't get pole and jumping up and down like a 5 year old when he wins in Barcelona. I prefer the taciturn Raikkoenen who rarely cracks a smile and tells the world that he took a dump when asked to bow in reference to Schumacher. That's a man's man.

Comparing Massa with Hakkinen is IMHO completely wrong. Mika is closer to Kimi's quiet personality than the emotional Felipe.

The Massappeal article was one of the worst articles ever written and it was excruciatingly painful to read and watch people on here believing it. I doubt I will ever get over that. Seriously.

As for 2008 and Massa: Yes indeed he shocked me. He was darn brilliant a lot of times and total crap some other times. The crap I expected, the brilliance I didn't. And that's why I count him as a serious title contender this year right from the start.

 

+1 Mika = cool dude in my book.

Yep agreed same here.

 

Except for Monza behind the bushes. But hey, everybody has his breaking point.

And somebody who drives a F1 literally on ice has got to be a "cool" dude indeed. AFAIK a feat that only one other driver has done so far: Badoer (allegedly) in a Ferrari.

 

Ha ha yes Monza, as soon as I wrote that I thought about that, but had no time edit it , I cried with him LOL...

 

Oct 08 Motorsport (UK) had a very interesting piece on Massa.

 

Good or bad Dave, you gotta link or do want me to buy it...

 

Argh! Beyond my feeble capabilities. Sorry.
Might try their web site.