Felipe Massa

Felipe disappointed me last year. Yes, it was great to see him back in the car after the spring to the face, but all in all he seemed to back off, give up, and just basically lay down on the job.

Remember of course that I don't know what else was going on witht he car, the crew etc., so that is possibly an extremely unfair characterization, but it was the impression I got.

This year is better. He seems more on form. He has been up there in both quail and the race, to differing extents, and I get the impression he is more energized this year.

I thought he ran a great race in Montreal. One of the best we have seen him run in some time. Two things stand out in my mind: his last second overtake of Ko-Bash right at the line. He didn't give up and sit back, he charged through that last second.

His post race comments about Karthikayen. (Sure, it was a racing incident and Felipe put himself into the wall, but let's admit it. NK should have let the faster car though rather than accelerating after FM moved off line.) I thought it was unlike the Felipe of recent years but in a refreshing way for him to come out angry after the race.

I am happy to see a fire back in Felipe. If he keeps it up, and I hope and think he will, his seat is safe.

 

What exactly was great about his run in Montreal?

As usual he lost it in the wet and stuffed a podium finish into the wall.

I can't wait for him to be replaced.

 

always liked the guy. met and spoke with him in indy at the hotel. very personable and amusing. a good fit for the ferrari team.

 

Personally, I was extremely impressed with how he conducted himself at Brazil in 2008. He lost with good grace, most could not. He whined a little too much about losing the title as a result of Renault cheating at Singapore, and didn't whine at all about stealing a win at Spa when Hamilton's victory was stolen by Mas Max's stooges.

As a driver, though... I remember Villeneuve complaining about Massa during his first season at Sauber, he said that Massa was incapable of even driving in a straight line.! He was incredibly inconsistent at first, and without Schumacher's guidance he would never have improved as much as he did. I don't believe he should be considered a top driver, however - he's certainly no Schumacher, Alonso, Hamilton, Vettel, not even a Button or Webber.

This. Massa has NEVER been any good in the wet, the infamous duel with Kubica in Japan 2007 notwithstanding (traction control!) Silverstone 2008 was the real marker of the season - in a wet race, the great equalizer, Hamilton simply motored away from the field, finishing more than 45 seconds ahead of 2nd place, while Massa spun all by himself 5 times and finished dead last. When he commits to trundling around and only gradually losing position to the other cars, he can keep it on the track. When he has to push in the wet, it is inevitable that he will fall off. I was amazed that he was quicker than Alonso in the opening part of the Montreal race, but he redeemed his reputation (as a terrible wet driver) when he fell off all by himself while lapping a back marker. Whatever BS Ferrari tried to spin about the HRT accelerating was embarrassing - if you watch the Massa in-car camera, he simply lost it on the damp, all by himself. The HRT had zero to do with it.

 

I like Massa personally.

But, Alonso has been beating the pants off him in almost every session and race since he came back.

Ok, he did give up one race for Alonso and he gets credit for that. But, what about every other race and every other session? Can't we just once finish 1-2 or 3-4 or 5-6? Does the difference always have to be by 5 or 6 places?

 

Since the spring in his face he's lost the spring in his feet and has failed to come up with the goods, i think it's time he moved on.

 

I think the two most depressing moments I've watched in F1 (have only been following for a few years) are MS's engine failure at Japan in 2006 and Hamilton's last corner pass in 2007 at Brazil.

 

Thing is, none of us ever had a spring to our eye at that speed. None of us would have known the pain, the fear, and the phobia of getting back into the car again. That's why, it pisses me off when everyone calls for him to be replaced.

Definitely he's not the same driver. I mean, for God's sake, he nearly lost his vision in the process. Having said that, I really think it's time for Massa to up his game. He needs to re-discover his fire. The eye of the tiger. He had it once, now he needs to find it again. First, he needs to start outqualifying Alonso, and start beating him on a regular basis. Forget about the other, Massa should start focusing on beating his team mate first.

Lately, there have been some improvement in his performances. Lets see. He was the first winner at Valencia. Hopefully he doesn't disappoints.

 

What kind of argument is that? I don't need the injury of a spring to my head to see whether Massa still has it or not. You say yourself, that it is time for him to up his game. Well, I don't see that happening and hence he should be replaced.

Ferrari was extraordinary kind to him by keeping the seat after his accident. I'm stunned he is still driving for the team this year after a miserable performance last year.

The only thing Massa ever had was raw speed in qualifying if the car performed well. He took a great car and put it on pole and if nothing went wrong took it to victory. Very much like Damon Hill. But as soon as there was traffic to fight through, a wet race or a sub performing car, he was out of his depth.

Now that his confidence has been shaken by the accident and the car sucks, we see what he really is capable of, which is about 1/2 second slower than Alonso.

Time for some fresh blood.

 

About Massa being replaced or not.

He has a contract till the end off 2012, yes I know not worth the paper ask Kimi, but I see no pay off coming quite as yet.

From Joe's blog.

On reflection I think it is fair to say that if there was a deal going down with Webber the best place to look would be in Lugano, in Switzerland, where one will find the office of Dr Henry Peter on the Via Canonica. He has been dealing with Ferrari driver contracts there for many years, out of the public eye, so if Webber is spotted in the Swiss-Italian lakelands “on holiday” we will know something is going on. You may recall that in the middle of 2008 Fernando Alonso paid a visit to Lugano, supposedly “looking for a house”

 

I just learned something, thanks. Will put that on my next travel itinerary.

 

A Pleasure..

 

Indeed.

But, didn't he actually buy one a little later?......

Cheers,
Ian

 

+1, but why?.....

[They're not big on any freedom of info laws there as I'm sure you know ]

Cheers,
Ian

 

Passing through Lugano anyway. Might as well stop at the house and take a picture from the outside. When in Vienna I was delighted to visit Willy Dungl's place. Just for kicks.

 

Sack him already!

He is useless. A true embarrassment to the team.

 

Don't know Ian, sorry.

 

Fair enough. Be sure to share when the time comes

I'm sure if you search (although, it is Switzerland!) you can find many "noteworthy" folk around abouts.

Cheers,
Ian

 

He's basically ~0.5second off Fred - Who's generally accepted as one of the very quickest.

He doesn't often put it in the wall [Unless it's raining! ]

He accepts his role as #2.

He's vastly experienced, and the guys love him apparently.

Who you gonna replace him with?

Cheers,
Ian

 

Racing is a business... it's not a charity. Enzo knew that. Ron Dennis knows it. Everyone in the sport knows it-- including Massa.

You either perform or you're replaced.

 

Lac Leman: Prost, Schumacher, Alonso
Lake Zurich: Heidfeld, Raikkoenen
Thurgau: Vettel

And those are just the few I know off the top of my head.

 

Massa isn't the fastest, but thats fine for Ferrari. Fred would not be able to handle another driver who's quick without going into mental self destruct as demonstrated at McL. Massa is a good team mate and faithful lap dog. Now- Domemicali- he would be easily ahead of Massa on my list for the firing squad...

 

If anyone wants to know what position Felipe is in vis a vis his own team re-read the BBC article on his situation there this year.

Its a NO WIN situation. No matter how well he does. He's alone with his engineer. It truly is Scuderia Alonso as Ian alluded to. Sure replace him with someone else. They face the same situation. Yes you drive for Ferrari.

Thats all you do.
Edit/Delete Message

 

+1 some management change would be much more help. Just look at what happend to FA in the rain with his tire change. Seriously how much more clueless can they be with Stefano. Its LONG overdue.