Flying Finn

Unfortunately it's pretty clear he never recovered from the accident and today is a different man. Like Pete said, always was very emotional but now it's gotten really bad. Just listening Smedley talking to him during the race like he's a dad talking to his 9 year old go-kart driver is ridiculous.

Look at his driving last rare, at one point when he was battling with Petrov, faster cars came from behind and what did he do? started to block those cars and ended up wasting bunch of time doing that so in the end when all those cars were gone, so (practically) was Petrov. Just stupid.

Alonso can praise Massa as much as he can, he doesn't want a strong team mate so I guess it's sort of understandable but not really, to improve, you need two good drivers. Ferrari needs to replace him asap. What are they thinking practically running a one car team is beyond me.

I really don't know what their thinking is when it comes to Massa. Even in '09 before the accident, all they were doing was to listen him and make the car to suit his style, not Kimi's and car was getting worse & slower. After the accident, even though they didn't develop the car no more, they adjusted it to Kimi's liking and the results were much better.
It baffles me what their thinking is, all I know is this would've not been happening when Enzo was there...

My bet is that by the time the circus comes back to Europe, he's gone. And they really need to replace him with someone who challenges Alonso, even though he needs to be No. 1, I think it's time for him to man up and have a real team mate.

Unless Santander is ok for not having a Constructor's title ever and possibly no Driver's title in near future either.

EDIT: 968 replied while I was writing.
Exactly and a team mates like that would most likely work, two drivers, both fast, one who's a bit of a drama queen and one who doesn't give a **** so it works.
When Alonso and Lewis were together, it was two drama queens so it never could've worked well enough.

tasracer

He is world champion

The crash gate changed order that year
Redo points and he is champ

jerome951

I've always viewed Massa as a quick driver when the car is perfect for him, but not necessarily a great racer (i.e. able to wring the most out of an underperforming car or achieve passes on cars of similar pace).

I think the lack of testing and multiple tire situations are showing his shortcomings...

multi21

di Montezemolo stands by Massa


Felipe Massa has received the unlikely backing of Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo as he continues to face calls for his removal from the Scuderia's f1 line-up.







In a somewhat surprising move, particularly given past comments on the form of his number two driver, Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has backed Felipe Massa to pull out of his slump.

The Brazilian has failed to match team leader Fernando Alonso in either of the opening two races of 2012, retiring from a non-scoring position in Australia and labouring home in Malaysia. His results would not have been seen as that bad given the general perception of Ferrari's F2012, but Alonso's fifth place in Melbourne and victory at Sepang cast Massa's performances in a somewhat more negative light.

Team principal Stefano Domenicali has already insisted that the Scuderia will continue to work with the 2008 world championship runner-up, fending off suggestions that Massa should be replaced by the likes of Sergio Perez, Adrian Sutil or Jarno Trulli with immediate effect, and now di Montezemolo - a noted critic of the Brazilian - has also shown a degree of solidarity.

“We have great confidence in Massa," he told Italian news agency SID, “and, at the moment, I don't see many outstanding drivers out there [to replace him].”

Considered to be under threat for the past couple of seasons, Massa has not troubled the top three since his near-fatal qualifying accident at the Hungaroring in 2009, but fellow countryman Luciano Burti - who was also eased out of the top flight following a heavy accident - believes that Massa's problems, while still psychological, may stem for another, altogether less violent, moment.

“When the order came [to allow Alonso through in Germany 2010], his house fell around him,” the former Prost and Jaguar driver told Brazil's El Globo, referring to the now-infamous team orders that marred a potential victory on the very anniversary of his Budapest accident.

Flying Finn

Translation= Massa will be replaced as soon as we find a half decent replacement.

I agree with what's said about Massa's performance and relation to both, accident and when he needed to move over for Alonso. He never regained his previous performance after the accident and then when he was officially and publicly made Alonso's assistant, he really slumped.

JClark

Better hope it doesnt rain...

Chads996

+1 The more press we see on this, the more I think he is out.

TwentySix

Not the first time Massa has been told to move over.... 2002

" Massa became very outspoken against the team after the German grand prix when they ordered him to pull over to let Heidfeld pass for the final points paying position. "

Ray S

FIFY

Turb-OH Brad

I don't know why people are so staunchly opposed to a great driver in a great team requiring a subservient second driver. Look at Michael Schumacher and his final 5 championships. None of them would have been won without a Barrichello or an Irvine to back them up. If Massa were a few seconds quicker, and consistently in the points, he would be a GREAT complementary Barrichello to Alonso's Schumacher.

multi21

True, but the thing is you need a "good" #2 to win a WCC. Massa is not pulling his weight and at this point you have to question whether he is even a competent F1 pilot given what his teammate is doing with the same car.

It may seem overly obvious, but ideally a team will want their drivers to finish 1-2 each race with their #1 driver being in that 1 spot each and every time. The situation you had with Alonso and Hamilton in 2007 spliting points is not ideal for a WCC or a WDC depending on which driver you're talking about. As regal as McLaren would have you believe that their drivers are treated as equals, it's all BS and they know they have to favor one over the other at some point to capture both titles. That's why I believe that if Button is leading the points by midseason THIS YEAR, the team will have to shift their attention to him and not Hamilton.... or vice-versa. I think Button is okay with that situation if Hamilton is leading, can't believe it would be okay with Hamilton if Button were leading.

TheOtherEric

I agree they probably won't have a great car, but do really think they'll take the heat for Massa? I think they'll blame Massa and replace him, giving them a convenient excuse that the new driver is still getting used to the car and team. Heck, they're going to ditch him anyway so may as well do it now and relieve some pressure on the team.

Yeah, yeah, we all watched it. But Massa was NEVER "actually WDC for a brief period." They don't give out trophies mid-race.

I just checked, and Massa still isn't listed as being a World Champion. Keep dreaming.

jbossolo

I think the next race will be pivotal in Massa's future as a Ferrari driver.
If he can't do better in China it might just be his last drive for the Scuderia.
Sadly, he seems to be a good guy, I just think the accident took too much out of the man.

Flying Finn

Because demands like that make them pu$$y...

There has been great drivers who have won and didn't have any demands such as Alonso & Schumi.

Senna & Prost pair might be the best example there ever was.

But if the two drivers finish 1-2 in each race, why would team care which one is 1st & which is 2nd? In the end one of them will be WDC, and the other will be 2nd while the team wins constructor's.

I remember at some point Williams had a "policy" that both drivers could battle and there was no team orders until the last 5 or 10 laps (can't remember what it was), the order was "frozen" and the guy behind was not allowed to challenge. In the end something like that is best for the sport, from fans & "sporting" point of view, nobody wants to see the fiasco such as Rubens having to let Schumi by.
In the end the fans watching is why the Circus is possible at all. If F1 becomes boring and nobody watches, there's no money to run them.

jbossolo

^ What he said. Senna-Prost, beautiful rivalry. They would've gone for each other's throats for a win. When Senna died, Prost was a pallbearer. For a long time thereafter he was a trustee/donor of the Instituto Ayrton Senna. Respect.