Felipe Massa

Brilliant driver on his day but is he championship material?

In 2008 he proved he was but thats only one occassion, plus that season the Ferrari TBH was a bit quicker and won more races that season. In 2009 he nearly suffered a career ending head-injury and since coming to back to the grid he hasn't really shown that promise he did in 2008.

Don't get me wrong he's a driver i very much like, but i do wonder if he'll be a title challenger again for Ferrari season in season out or if he'll stay at Ferrari much longer?

Whats your thoughts on Massa?
 
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I think the Ferrari is a considerably better racing car than the McLaren and has been since the beginning of the season, quali aside. I think this is explainitory of Massa vs. Button. To add context, I also think that Hamilton is more dynamic than Button as is Alonso more dynamic than Massa. Massa and Button are a similar breed and I can't see much to chose between them. Their performances seem to vary depending on whether a track, set-up or conditions suit their driving style whilst their respective team-mates will almost always get out of the car as much as it has to give.
 
Well for quite some time I was wondering why Ferrari are keeping Massa, apart from the fact that he poses no real threat to Alonso. Now this has only been one race weekend but I think his performance was impressive. He outqualified Kimi and Lewis in conditions, that never really seemed to suit him very much.
Today he finished 4th and showed some good skills. He overtook Schumacher nicely and more or less kept the pace of the front runners, finishing only 9 seconds behind Webber.
Again this has been only one weekend but I really hope that he is going to impove from here on in.
 
I think both. The car has improved, he has found a setup with which he feels comfortable in Monaco and he has driven better and is much happier as a result.
 
My guess is that the car is improved on one-lap and race pace and has come to Massa's style of driving and that this in turn has given him more confidence. So, as you say, a bit of both.
 
They tweaked the suspension to Massa's liking from Monaco onwards, hence why his one lap pace and race pace has been better, while Alonso's just been on the same level on both aspects since then.

Good performance from Massa, if he cleared Schumacher on lap 3 when he had the chance, he could have been in for the win, at least 2nd or 3rd place anyway.

He seems to run well at Hockenheim, hope he gets a podium, or even better, wins :D
 
Nice race by Felipe... Ferrari mgmt sighing in relief as they get their constructors points push back in gear...
 
Massa has stated that if he continues to deliver results, he thinks he can secure a new deal at Ferrari.

Personally I think that's very wishful thinking, on both counts.
 
I think Massa isn't able to say anything else press wise without denting his contract negociations with other teams massively. Everyone knows he's out the door and desperete for a drive but he at least has to make out they need to tempt him with offers.

I still think Fellipe is capable of good results ya know. I think he's a confidence driver and I think he's had very little of that in the last few years. I think if he slotted into a midfield team with a good car and got a good result under his belt we might see him build on that and get back to near somewhere where he was in 07, 08 and 09.

Unfourtunatly for Felipe its a very busy driver market out there and I don't think he'll get that chance. Still hopefully he'll go over to Indie and storm the thing.
 
Massa has scored 25 points in the last 6 races despite having 2 no scores, which I would argue were not his fault.

That makes him better than quite a few drivers, Rosberg included. He will be judged on how he does the rest of the season now that the Ferrari seems to be a much less difficult car to drive.
 
On it's own Massa's qualifying performance looks pretty good, but with Alonso saying yesterday in interviews that it should've been their easiest pole of the year and just now on the driver's parade that they have the fastest car, is Massa still underperforming then assuming their cars are the same?
 
Good point, though his Q1 lap on hard tyres of 1:24.175 would have good enough for 3rd in Q3, so he should've had some time in hand.
 

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