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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Fair point, but one certainty is that the Ferrari is a dog so it's hard to draw conclusions from one quali session when nothing went right for the team as a whole
 
I just love the comments Massa got for putting a wheel on the grass in free practice causing him to spin into the gravel trap. Then Alonso goes and does the same thing only in qualifying where it really hurts and the reaction isn’t quite the same.
 
I agree Brogan. His 2008 season is more a testament to the fact that you can put any F1 standard driver in the fastest car and they will compete for the title. Raikkonen's head wasn't there in 2008-09. I think many will question whether it is in 2012.
 
Vortex, I think the criticism was more from the predictability of it. I said he'd be first to spin before the session.
 
What about 2007 where he was in the title fight ahead of Raikkonen until Monza where he had to retire due to a broken suspension, therefore had to back Raikkonen?

I don't mind the comments about him from 2010 onwards, but you seem to be downgrading his achievements before his accident, which quite frankly is a shame as he had some great drives and had an unfortunate accident taking him out of the sport.

Before his accident he kept on improving season by season, and then there's the talk of him being the "worst driver in the wet" because he spun 5 times in a race, when also his team mate spun 3-4 times in the exact same race as they where both on intermediates on a track for full wets.

Yeah he is very poor now...but he wasn't average or mediocre before, and his results back then showed that.
 
Yeah but that was always my opinion of him back then, so why would I change it now he's become even worse. Fair enough he wasn't necessarily bad back then, but I was never particularly impressed with Massa and as I've said before, I can remember as far back as 2007 seeing him as mistake-prone.
 
I've probably been a tad harsh on Felipe, although this is my opinion. Looking at today in particular though, they showed in the highlights Felipe going down into turn 3 and turning the steering wheel and the car doing nothing. Tough day for Ferrari.
 
Brogan said:
He was still beaten though so that's hardly anything to crow about.

Massa for me has never been a top 5 driver and never will be.
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Since 2006 when he went to Ferrari his position in the World Championship has been, 3rd, 4th, 2nd, and two 6th placings after his accident. I've left out his 11th placing in 2009 for obvious reasons. I've never considered Felipe absolutely top draw such as Alonso or Hamilton but his strike rate very much puts him in the top five.
At the end of a drivers career all thats left to measure their success are statistics, Massa's won't be bad at all.
Being blindingly fast and spectacular is great to watch but if it doesn't bring results a driver needs to look carefully at his approach. Lewis for example should be a multiple champion by now if we were all brutally honest. He knows that, but looking at the bigger picture and measuring his pace is not his style which of course makes him great to watch. :)
 
Vortex said:
I just love the comments Massa got for putting a wheel on the grass in free practice causing him to spin into the gravel trap. Then Alonso goes and does the same thing only in qualifying where it really hurts and the reaction isn’t quite the same.
Click to expand

If Massa outqualified Alonso and went through to Q3..i could see your point but he was nowhere near to beating Alonso's time, he was in fact a full second slower and qualified a miserable 16th..

12. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m26.494s + 1.025
16. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m27.497s + 2.028

Its a bit of a shame how slow he looks these days but it is what it is, The Massa of 2008 would have probably at the very least given Alonso something to think about but now its beyond ridiculous how one sided it is
 
Last chance for Massa me thinks. New chassis this weekend, if he fails to improve..he's a goner and deservedly so.

Who'd replace him? If anyone comes in..i feel it will be a short term drive. I cant see Perez joining, next season no doubt about it but not now.

An experienced reliable driver is what they need, none other then Rubens Barichello :) Unlikely Ferrari would go down that road but he'd be a perfect fit in my opinion
 
I don't know why, but I think it will be good if Trulli gets it.

Rather Massa improved back to his best though, I can only hope though.
 
Weren't "Gazzeta dello Sport" the people who said that Ferrari were going to need to go through a crash test with their chassis before the Oz GP? If so I would take this announcement with a dollop of salt.

Ferrari have to get rid of Masa well before Brazil or after it. imo.
 

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