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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It's a shame because he seems like a nice bloke, but he's just not good enough. It's worth remembering that every week he stays at Ferrari, he is basically sitting in one of the best jobs in the world. His salary is in the millions and he races for the Scuderia. This is close to the pinnacle for professional racing drivers. Most people would kill to be in his position, so I don't see him as being worthy of sympathy yet. Every week he occupies that seat, he is keeping a younger and potentially better driver from having that opportunity. The discussion seemed to have evolved from 'if' Massa will be sacked to 'when' he will be sacked.
 
Felipe has underperformed in the first 5 races to such a degree that even Ferrari have told him to up his game in the coming races.
But when he does just that at Monaco , his team makes a bad decision to call him in the lap after Alonso has pitted.
Everybody was talking about that 20 sec. window you needed to stay ahead ,but in Felipe's case the Scuderia couldn't be bothered,even if Hamilton was sitting at 19 sec. when Massa was running first in clean air .
Were they afraid he might jump Alonso(down 16 odd sec.) when they would let him out for a couple more laps?Team orders are allowed now, so they could just order him to hand back the place,but in that case he would still have jumped Hamilton,a title contender.
In the case he wouldn't have been able to make up time by staying out ,he would at least have held up Vettel,,another title contender,who later in the race came very close to jumping over Alonso by staying out.
I think any driver of the top teams would be quite vocal about such a pit strategy,the only thing Felipe said was that it was a pity he couldn't do a few more laps once in clean air on still pretty good tyres.
 
I really don't like Knocking a guy when he is down, the bloke had a spring split his skull open, why should I kick him in the teeth.. I still think he has potential and given the right environment and the right car he could be a contender for the championship again...

Having said that I will knock horrible shits such as Bernie because they deserve it I ain't a saint and I don't forgive all...
 
Well he's picking it up again and if Kobayashi hadn't run into him he would have gotten some points again. Way to go Felipe for sure!!
 
You gotta give us some pictures F1ang-o ! LOL

I'll help ya out...

comp3.webp
 
KekeTheKing I feel sorry for him too, but its a tough world in professional motorsport. He should move to Indy where he'll likely be champion again, but I feel F1 is over for him. Certainly he's never going to be Ferrari number one unless something should happen to Alonso. I just hope he doesn't end up like DC, desperately struggling for one more season year after year.
 
KekeTheKing I think that if he was to get into a decent team then the - it appears to me but I may be wrong - increasing number of traditional circuits vs ovals would play into someone like Massa's hands. The top couple of drivers in IRL, IMO, are of F1-type calibre, I don't see that of the rest.That's not euro flag-waving, just my assessment of the make-up of the different series.
 
I just don't see how Felipe could get a seat at Penske, Ganassi, or Andretti. Those three teams have won all but 4 out of the 60 races in the last four seasons. If he could land one of those drives, he should jump at the opportunity.

I think a seat swap with Perez is more likely.
 
Felipe would have a hard time even beating Rubens, and stands no chance IMO of securing an IRL title. Many of the top line IRL drivers probably had aspirations of a F1 career, but for whatever reason weren't able to secure that drive. Dario Franchitti even as a test driver for Sir Jackie Stewart, wasn't able to win a F1 seat.
 
If Felipe's problems are primarily in his head - the effects of the accident, dented confidence - and I don't know whether they are, then Indy isn't the place for that.
 
Credit where it's due, Felipe drove well this weekend. He qualified 5th, putting the likes of Raikkonen and Hamilton behind him in tricky conditions. On Sunday his dry pace seemed to match Alonso's and he finished within 10 seconds of the win. He also put a great move on Schumacher after following him for several laps.
 
Yeah and he seems to be much happier too now :). I was hoping he would get on the podium but Vettel was just too quick!
 

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