Would Massa have been any worse (or better) than Kimi?

Based on what? - Hindsight?

 

Kimi was hired in case Fred walked. That was a real threat at the time

 

The definition of irony:

"Vettel doenst know how to drive a struggling car, according to Felipe Massa."

'Pressure effect' is Vettel's new challenge - Massa | News | Motorsport.com

 

No. Kimi is the past. Ferrari should have been looking to the future for its Massa replacement.

 

Perhaps, but I never bought into that theory simply because it could have had the opposite of the intended effect: It could have pushed FA nearer leaving.

 

Yup.
But it was with the car not the driver.

 

But of course.

When Alonso does well, it's the driver.
When Massa does well, it's the car.

When Kimi does poorly, it's the driver.
When Alonso does poorly, it's the car.



News flash: Nice guy finishes first.

 

I love Phil and hope he wins tomorrow but this year's Ferrari isn't as good as the Williams never mind the MB.

Would Phil do better than Kimi in the current car? Who knows. He was going nowhere with Ferrari and the switch was his smartest move.

 

I can't stand him, he is only one step up from crashy Mald IMO.

Funny in it, when he ends up smashing it his never ever his fault and he always calls the other driver fit to burn.

 

Yes.

 

I love the guy's attitude. Always looks like he's in it for the fun.
But... Either he's got some wicked bad Karma or he's his own worst enemy.

 

The cars just damn ugly… it can't get out of it's own way! That's not right for a Ferrari!

 

Are you sure about that..
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Yup.
The fact that he takes it hard is an indication of how much it matters to him.
He's had to put up with a lot of bad luck but still has a positive attitude. I'm not sure how many other drivers would.

 

I didn't mind him at first, but have since seen his true colours, for example, saw him in a interview at this race, and all he did was ***** about Perez, saying he will never learn basically calling him a lose cannon, he did the said the same about Hamilton, well you don't throw stones if you live in glass house IMO and he does.

 

Heat of the moment.
None of them are "nice guys" but Phil comes closest.

 

Would Massa have been any worse (or better) than Kimi? Would Massa have been any worse (or better) than Kimi?

Based on what we know now about the cars and how they suit the different drivers then it would seem like a good possibility that Massa could indeed have been better than Kimi in the Ferrari.

However:

Based on what we knew at the time when Ferrari were looking at their driver options, the evidence suggested that Kimi was the better option.

Massa had been disappointing and a let down for far too many seasons at Ferrari - He simply hadn't delivered what he should have. For far too many races Massa appeared to be just going through the motions over a race weekend (and if things didn't go well for him, his head dropped and he simply ambled round the circuit doing nothing!).

Out of loyalty to Massa after his accident, and also based on the fact that he was much loved within the team, Ferrari stuck with him long after most teams would have dropped him.

At the same time, Kimi had returned to F1 from rallying and straight away showed an appetite for the sport again.He drove the Lotus beyond it's natural limit and shone once more (even though he was not getting paid for doing the job!).

Talk from people claiming to have known that signing Kimi again would be a mistake is nonsense! There was absolutely no evidence to suggest that there would be any problems with him back at the Scuderia.

As for statements that "Kimi is the past, Ferrari should have looked for a younger driver who would be the future!" is again pretty much nonsense!
What Ferrari needed was a driver who could be relied upon to win points in each race. Based on history, Kimi was a sure bet. Some young driver learning his trade was not!



The current situation

As it turns out, Kimi is struggling with the new cars and the way they drive. The variations in braking characteristics, along with the quirks of energy harvesting and the way you need to drive the car to get the best out of it are not suiting his driving style (It also doesn't help that the Ferrari F 14 T is not a particularly good car).

At the same time, Massa in the Williams is finding that the new cars suit his style very nicely. Added to which, the Williams has the benefit of a far better power unit than the Ferrari does in terms of both power and drive-ability.

Again though, absolutely no one could have predicted that this would be the case. Williams took a chance on Massa because they needed an experienced driver who could help them develop the car.



Kimi's not the only driver struggling!

Let's face fact here, Kimi isn't the only driver having difficulties driving the cars of the new era!

Much to the delight of many, both on here and around the World, 4 times WDC Sebastian Vettel is another driving having trouble adapting to the new cars. It's not a case of having an extremely poor car this season though, Daniel Ricciardo has shown that it's capable of reasonable performances and results.

Vettel hasn't become a crap driver overnight though! - It appears to be the case that Ricciardo 's driving style simply suits the new era cars better than Vettel's style does.


Another driver struggling with the new cars is Jenson Button. Again, Jenson hasn't suddenly become a crap driver overnight, he seems to be struggling a bit due to the fact that the McLaren is not a very good car (despite having the best power unit in F1 at this moment in time), and also because his smooth driving style is not allowing the energy recovery systems to operate at their best.

At this moment in time in F1 it seems to be a case that if the car suits your driving style then you can do pretty well, but if it doesn't suit your style then you're going to struggle, and the change required to get the best out of the car is far more complicated than it used to be.

This is good for Massa and not good for the likes of Kimi, Vettel, and Button.

 

Completely 100% agree.

There is no question Kimi is struggling with the car, to my great disappointment. I expect the gap to close to Alonso soon though and next season Kimi and Alonso to go at it proper.

Especially with Button and Vettel, very true that a driver doesn't wake up one day and completely forgotten how to drive. For these guys, racing is as second nature as is sitting down for us.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDn8DRTfyqw]family guy - peter forgets how to sit down - YouTube[/ame]

That doesn't happen to a race driver overnight. Especially not world champions.

 

You'd think that Kimi's experience rallying would be a plus in the new, low grip, era of F1.

 

Kimi is a needy driver with a narrow window of optimal performance compared to FA and some others. He is over rated to be honest.

 

As impressed as I was with his time at Lotus I have to agree.


Now about your Luca fixation...

 

Most logical/truthful explanation I have heard so far.

 

At a-lot of other major concerns he would have been replaced.

 

Kimi (no doubt much to the chagrin of a Finn) never did very well in rallye.

A bit too wild. To finish first, you must first finish. Kimi always wound up with dramas.
In a car with a loose back end, "wild" isn't the formula in this year's Ferrari, either.

But I have to agree that Ferrari needed a change.
After years of getting nerfed on track and dumped on by the team, Felipe had stopped fighting with Alonso.
Ferrari needs someone to push Zo, to get him to convert "nearly" into championships.
But this isn't going to be the year for Ferrari to rise to the top.
Although having Massa out-run him in the Williams will likely stir Alonso up a bit.

Meanwhile, as an old rallye fan, I love seeing Felipe bringing the classic Martini racing livery up to the front again.