‘2011 not a crucial year for me’ – Massa
- This topic has 16 replies, 12 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 4 months ago by Todfod.
- AuthorPosts
- 30th November 2010, 7:31 at 7:31 am #128598TodfodParticipant
http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/248688/2011-not-a-crucial-year-for-me-massa/
Massa is confident that 2011 is not a crucial year for him, and he is sure he can retain his seat at Ferrari despite the results. He mentions that he has been in this situation since 2006, and that he has never been replaced… so it will not happen.
I’m trying to understand where Felipe is getting so much confidence regarding his race seat. He has been with Ferrari 5 seasons, and has not accomplished as much was expected of him. After his terrible performances this year, I thought his race seat might be in trouble, but instead, it seems Massa is confident that another poor season would still see him retain his seat.
30th November 2010, 7:45 at 7:45 am #155156sw6569Participanthe’s right. 2010 was.
30th November 2010, 7:57 at 7:57 am #155157Magnificent GeoffreyParticipantWho else would Ferrari put in that second seat? Fisichella’s too old, Badoer is Badoer and Marc Gene is getting on a bit as well. There’s no one else apart from one of the guys in the lower teams that they could use.
30th November 2010, 8:45 at 8:45 am #155158GirtsParticipantFirstly I think that Massa just wants to downplay unwelcome rumours. He doesn’t want to admit openly that Ferrari is now Alonso’s team, while he is playing second fiddle, and that his future is uncertain. F1 drivers mostly sound optimistic when they talk about their future options. I remember Ralf Schumacher during his final days in F1…
However, combination Alonso-Massa is probably still the best one that’s available to Ferrari at the moment. Alonso obviously cannot live with a situation where his teammate is as good as him or even better. We saw that in 2007 in McLaren and we saw that on some occasions this year. So if Ferrari gets Kubica or Vettel alongside Alonso, I am quite sure that there will be trouble, which is why they might prefer to keep Massa as a decent number two driver.
30th November 2010, 10:23 at 10:23 am #155159IcthyesParticipantHe’s right. 2010 was.
This. Massa cannot afford anything other than being a title contender for at least half the year.
30th November 2010, 11:15 at 11:15 am #155160AnonymousInactive“He’s right. 2010 was.”
I disagree. He had just came back from injuury after 8 months out so he was never going to be back at his best. He really struggled with the tyres last year (which is his own fault) but say next year he’s brilliant on the Pirelli’s will anyone care about last year? Hw got a new contract last year even when he was arguably underperforming it’s as it gets closer to the end of his contract that his performance will really matter. Last year could have been a blip or it could have beenn just him being slow compared to Alo but next season he’ll be better prepared and have tyres which are staying in F1 so his performance will be more relevant and a bigger indicator of where he will be in future seasons.
Massa’s always had this kind of speculation about his seat and maybe he enjoys being the underdog a little bit. He was inctredible in 08 when at the beginning of the season there were plenty of rumours about him, he was the underdog at Brazil 08 and he delivered and in Germany he was great so maybe he likes trying to rise to the occassion.
There isn’t really anyone who could replace him. Massa’s a brilliant team player even if he continues to be outpaced by Alo and would bend over backwards if Ferrari asked him to. Jules Bianchi is too young and inexperienced, Kubica is still an unknown with his pace because he’s only really had Heidfeld to push him and the German won and all of Ferrari’s other drivers aren’t that quick.
30th November 2010, 11:54 at 11:54 am #155161Stephen JonesParticipantseems massas doesn’t live off the hype..
30th November 2010, 12:45 at 12:45 pm #155162VettelSMemberDisagree. 2010 was a write-off for Massa, so for 2011 he has to come back a lot stronger. The chances of him beating Alonso are frankly slim, but he needs to do a lot better than last year.
30th November 2010, 12:50 at 12:50 pm #155164AnonymousInactiveWho else would Ferrari put in that second seat? Fisichella’s too old, Badoer is Badoer and Marc Gene is getting on a bit as well. There’s no one else apart from one of the guys in the lower teams that they could use.
Er, Kubica? In 2012, his Renault contract runs out, so I think he might go to Ferrari. And Alonso and Kubica are great friends rememeber?
30th November 2010, 12:57 at 12:57 pm #155165sw6569ParticipantTo my mind, its not so much his performance that was the issue in 2010 because I completely agree that he needed time to recover, get up to racing speed etc.
His problem was that he needed to establish himself as the psychological equal to Fernando. And – through contract, or racecraft – he failed to do that.
The team is no longer Ferrari – its Fernando’s racing team, like it was Schumachers previously. Therefore, 2011 cannot hold much better for him in my view. I think for him to become a better driver he should move teams.
Realistically – that would never happen. He’s got a race winning seat as it is.
I think he already did the damage to his reputation this year though and the only way to recover it is to move. Therefore 2011 isn’t his make or break year, unless he moves teams. For now, 2010 was his make or break year and psychologically, he lost.
30th November 2010, 13:00 at 1:00 pm #155166TommyBParticipantWell Massa sounds really confident going into 2011. I never believe all this “I’ll be stronger next year” rubbish but Felipe could have at least given some encouragement to his fans.
30th November 2010, 13:13 at 1:13 pm #155167sw6569Participant@Tommy I think Massas comments were in reply to what Luca Di Monte(can’t spell the rest) said – so I think they have been taken out of context slightly. But you’re right, on the face of it, they are hardly awe inspiring but unfortunately thats what the british press love to do!
30th November 2010, 15:06 at 3:06 pm #155168IcthyesParticipantAgree again with sw6569. Massa’s problem is that a poor 2011 will wipe away all of the reasons he wasn’t so good this year. He can’t even use the excuse of tyres, because they’re going to be the same make in 2012, especially as the Italians say they want to make them less durable, Massa often complained this year that even the softs were too hard for him.
Ferrari got rid of Raikkonen, they’d get rid of Massa just as quickly after two successive dry years. Hell, they’d be considering getting rid of Alonso after a lacklustre 2011 if he had only won 2 races this year.
30th November 2010, 18:05 at 6:05 pm #155169TodfodParticipantAgree with Ichtyes. Ferrari is all about making sure they have a race winning driver, and the fact that they kicked Kimi out proves the point. Massa has to stop thinking of excuses, and instead, focus on trying to match Alonso’s performance level. Another 2010 like season performances…. and he is definitely kicked out of Ferrari. Felipe isn’t as important to Ferrari as he thinks he is.
30th November 2010, 19:43 at 7:43 pm #155170HairsParticipant2011 is not critical for Massa because his career within the team is over, and he knows it. No other reason.
- AuthorPosts
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.