Your points do not work. Of course, if any team manager had a choice between a MS/KR team, or a KR/FM team, they would pick the first. But that was not the option. If Massa was considered as bad as you want to believe, they would have signed him for only one year while looking for a new second for 2008, or brought up Luca as the second driver. But they didn't. Because everyone on the team believes that Massa has the talent. So it seems to me you are again wrong and that Ferrari thinks as highly of Massa as I do. Rossi could have been another Hawthorn, we will never know. Just because he comes from two wheel racing you seem to discount his ability. Possibly he could have been very good in F1. And we will also never know if they really intended to use Rossi or if that was a PR stunt for the Italian press, and if he would have replaced Massa, or replaced Schumacher. There was never any official team talk as to which seat Rossi would take. But you are right about only one thing, I do think Massa has the ability to lead Ferrari in 2007, no doubt. It is his place to lose.
I would ask, in turn, why all the adulation? Simply because Ferrari gives him a ride does not mean he is a World Champion in waiting. He may be a nice guy, I don't know, but I don't want to have a beer with him, I want to see Feerari win and he is not the guy to do it. I never thought much of Massa when he was at Sauber and I don't think highly of him now. I am frankly surprised at how so many contributors here seem to think that simply because he drives for Ferrari, he must be automatically exalted without question or reservation. My point is that he is a mediocre driver who is being enormously flattered by the car he drives. He is no more a true threat to the front end of the grid than Irvine or Rubens before him. Neither of them could win a GP outside of Ferrari and Massa couldn't find the top ten in the field, let alone the podium while he was at Sauber. He is note ven the equal of Irvine let alone Rubens. Any driver who is soundly beaten by the likes of Nick Heidfeld and Fisichella is absolutely no threat to the likes of Kimi or Alonso nor is he deserving of a ride with Ferrari. I think his presence with the team is completely due to the fact that his manager is Todt's son. He absolutely did not earn that drive on the merit of his on-track performance. He had a hard time keeping up with Badeour when they were both test drivers at Ferrari and he watched the ass-end of every teammates car while at Sauber. I think if Ferrari signed Jarno Trulli or Ralf Schumacher to the seat instead of Massa, you all would be talking about how Trulli is the new #1 or how Ralf is the logical heir to his brother. Take a look at the posts regarding Massa before Ferrari signed him and see how many extolled his achievements behind the wheeel. I did...I couldn't find any. Massa is a guy who has never, ever beaten his teammate, let alone the field. Suddenly he is the Ferrari driver with the longest service with the team (1 year) and people here seem to think he is going to beat Kimi in the same car?!? I find the thought ludicrous and I think there will be a lot of red faces by season's end...and it won't be mine.
To the contrary, I hardly discount his abilities. I was merely pointing out that he was a completely unknown quantity. He may well be the next John Surtees for all I know. The point that I was making is that Ferrari had such little enthusiasm for Massa's prospects with the team that they openly flirted with the idea of replacing him with someone who had never raced on four wheels. Schumacher discussed the prospect of having Rossi as a teammate in several interviews. He endorsed Ferrari's pursuit of Rossi, probably because he knew Rossi was unlikely to be any more a threat to him than any of his other teammates. If it was nothing more than a publicity stunt, it was an awfully foolish one. Why demoralize a guy (Massa) who you plan on retaining by openly flirting with a replacement? That makes no sense to me. I think there is far more to the fact that Todt's son manages Massa than there is to Massa's on-track achievements for Ferrari giving him a seat. My prediction is that Massa will spend more of his career battling Mika in touring cars than he will battling Kimi in a Ferrari.
Rubens had a 2-year deal too. He spent the second year of that deal at Honda... Don't worry, if and when Ferrari decides to drop Massa, his contract won't be an issue.
I understand what you mean. Then again this certainly isn't the first time someone has gotten a drive because they had a relationship with someone of prominance off the track. Hell, the whole reason why Ralf is still with toyota is because of his last name. It's also realized, well it SHOULD be, that half of the drivers on the field would do as well or better than him. Button,Trulli, Ralfie, eventually Hamilton and Kovaleinen,Webber, Heidfeld,Kubica would all do better, I think.
i think, if Ferrari wasn't happy with Massa's progress, they would have replaced him already for this season. i think they offered him a 1 yr contract 1st of all, is just to see if he can prove himself. if he was the right person for the job. and i think he did, thats why they extended his contract for 2007. they would have signed up GF for 2007, ralfie, or trulli...or whoever, but Ferrari know their men and drivers the best. not u, not me, or anybody on this board.
When the flag drops the BS stops. I will be ready with salt and pepper if I have to eat ( Massa ) crow. But somehow I feel with KR at the wheel caviar is on the course.
