(from autosport) World championship contender Felipe Massa says his success in Formula One is being made sweeter by the fact that many people still do not like to give him credit for the job he is doing. The Brazilian is heading into his home race at Interlagos next weekend as the only rival to Lewis Hamilton for the crown - after a season in which he has emerged as Ferrari's leading driver. But despite his success, Massa admits it is still hard work to erase the reputation of a 'wild guy' which he earned during a crash-filled debut season with Sauber in 2002. However, he says winning over the doubters is giving him intense satisfaction. "I think when you show people something that they don't believe, it's even more nice for you," said Massa in a group interview ahead of the season finale in Brazil. "People always put me completely out of the game. Nobody expects you to do a good job and then you do a better job than everyone thinks and it's even nicer. "I'm sure if I started my career as a Ferrari test driver my reputation would have been completely different. Because of the first year, which was bad, my reputation was bad for so many years." Massa thinks that his debut in F1 came too early - and his errors came from trying too hard to follow in the footsteps of Kimi Raikkonen. "I was a little bit of a wild guy, it's true," he said. "But I had a very difficult car to drive. I was very young - maybe too young to start straight away. "Sauber had the best year in 2001 with Kimi and Nick. I came in the next year and they expected me to do exactly the same as Kimi did, but the car was not as good as it was the previous season. So I tried too much. "I made some good results, scored some good points and made some good races. But I made some very bad races as well. That was not a great thing for my image and it took very long to recover and change my image in Formula One. But fortunately I think we changed it." Massa believes the progress he has made during the past few seasons at Ferrari is simply the result of being more experienced. "Even when you have a difficult car to drive, if you know how to set up the car and how to work with the team, then you know how to have a comfortable car to drive," he said. "If you have a car that doesn't match with your driving style it's very difficult and very easy to make mistakes when you drive all the time at the limit. With experience I started to learn what I needed and how I wanted the car, and how to work with the team. "A big part of the learning (for me was) as a Ferrari test driver. That year was like a university for me. Michael (Schumacher) was like the professor and I learned a lot from him, about how to grow inside the team and work with them better. "To say what you want and to push hard in every area. I learned a lot from him but never tried to be more than him because you cannot. I just tried to learn a lot and wait for my time, and my time is coming a little bit now and I'm quite happy for that." Massa has the chance of clinching the world championship on home soil and is well aware that the unpredictable events of this year mean neither he nor Hamilton can take anything for granted about how the Brazilian GP will turn out. "I hope it will be quite a good deal," he said. "I think it is just a great feeling to first of all be in the position to fight for the world championship, to be in my home race, so I think that is really nice feeling. "But we have had (races like) Hungary and Singapore this year and we had many races where unfortunately we could not score. But that is racing, and until the last lap you never know what is going to happen. "You drive a car where everything is on the limit to be at the maximum performance, but to finish the race as well. Sometimes things don't work like that, and it is racing. It won't be the first time and it won't be the last time, but you learn a lot with these bad results." And Massa sees no reason why he should look to a future outside of Ferrari now that he is achieving great success. "I think you can never have a clear idea what is going to happen in three or four years, but for the next two years I feel very good in the team. I hope everything stays like that, and I don't see any reason to change. "I am comfortable and happy. I think in life the most important thing is to be happy and if you are happy then your job comes more natural."
World championship contender Felipe Massa says his success in Formula One is being made sweeter by the fact that many people still do not like to give him credit for the job he is doing. +1 - Even here he is called a 'turd'. That more aptly applies to Kimi and his driving this year. I was a Kimi fan first before Massa. I give him lots of credit and I only hear how silly or stupid I am for being more impressed with his drive vs Kimi than LH vs Alonso last year. All the experts would NEVER have predicted Massa and his drive this year.
I am one of the guys who called him Turd, and he has done a great job this season, much better than I ever thought. Hats off to the guy, I for one was wrong about him.
Mr Senna 1994 I dont think you were wrong and I did NOT intend at all to call you out. Its a harsh word for Felipe but my exwife was less diplomatic about me I am simply, to be honest, frankly astonished at how Kimi was put away this year by a driver who I thought was a good quiet number 2 who might get lucky to get 1 or 2 wins. I feel fairly stupid myself for my own bias against Felipe. I bet somewhere here I was calling for him to be dropped!!! Life is an amazing thing and F1 is one thing...unpredictable to a great degree. Time will tell if Felipe is really for real or is this just his 1 year of greatness. Kimi I thought would never have such problems at all this year. Shows you what I know
Same here. Until I stumbled upon a rare interview made with Kimi earlier this year before his apparent lack of commitment became abundantly clear. Reading the interview now in hindsight, you can't help but smack yourself on the forehead saying "I knew it!". In short: He has achieved his life's dream and has no more aspiration for anything else. So I'm not expecting a change for 2009. PS: In the interview he also states that driving the perfect lap feels better than sex. No wonder he won the fastest lap trophy this year. Expect that again next year.
LOL He mentioned his wife (?) Jenny in the interview. Didn't they get a divorce meanwhile? I'm so not up to date...
I loved reading that part. Michael did take Massa under his wings and that has had a huge influence on the guy. Partly the reason I joined the Massa bandwagon(when he was new to Ferrari) and then I grew to like the guy. Schumi must have been speaking from his heart that when making his decision to retire, he had to consider Felipe's career also. Increases my respect for Schumi and my like for Massa as well. Very affable chap, this Massa. Ferrari is a big family !!
