Felipe Massa

[Hawkmoon]

How long are Ferrari going to put up with Massa's poor performances? In 2010 he was back from his injury and they cut him some slack and rightly so. In 2011 he was further behind Alonso and still Ferrari said no problem but we'll need to see an improvement next year. Then comes 2012 and Massa is even further behind his teammate. Enough is enough.

Fair enough, the F2012 isn't a very good car at the moment but Massa was so far behind Alonso this weekend that it's no longer just disappointing, it's pathetic. I haven't felt this negative towards a Ferrari driver since Capelli in '92. After today I think I'd rather have Capelli.

Massa struggled to get out of Q1 and never looked like getting into Q3. In the same car Alonso would have easily made Q3 but for his spin, admittedly an error on his part. In the race Alonso dragged the car up to 5th. Massa? He spent most of the race going backwards and at one point I thought Trulli was in the car such was the train of cars lined up behind him.

I never expected that Massa would beat Alonso as he simply isn't in Alonso's class but he was a full second behind in both Q1 and Q2 and his fastest lap of the race was 1.2 seconds off Alonso's best. In my opinion he no longer deserves a Ferrari drive.

Ferrari don't have the luxury of carrying an under-performing driver this year as they are going to need every point they can get to stay ahead of Lotus and Mercedes. Were I Domenicalli and Di Montezemolo I would be on the phone to Sauber and asking how much is it going to cost to get Perez in the second Ferrari. Free engines for the year? Done!

Whatever it was that Massa had up until his accident in 2009 has gone and with it his career at Maranello.

[janneppi]

I don't think has much to say about the car handling when it differes from what alonso wants, if their driving styles are too different it's Massa who has to cope, and it seems he hasn't been able to do so. He's hired to be the number 2 driver and that's what he's doing.

Ferrari doesn't really have much options, none of the top drivers really want to be at Ferrari when Alonso is in such a strong position and I doubt that less exprienced drivers would do any better than Massa.

[F1boat]

I don't think has much to say about the car handling when it differes from what alonso wants, if their driving styles are too different it's Massa who has to cope, and it seems he hasn't been able to do so. He's hired to be the number 2 driver and that's what he's doing.

Ferrari doesn't really have much options, none of the top drivers really want to be at Ferrari when Alonso is in such a strong position and I doubt that less exprienced drivers would do any better than Massa.

This is true, unfortunately. It is very difficult to have a motivated nu2 driver. Maybe only Nick Heidfeld will do a better job than Massa. Quick Nick know how to score big points with bad cars and IMO will be a happy nu2 driver. Massa was mighty, on his day, but no longer... Kind of sad, really

[EuroTroll]

Ferrari doesn't really have much options, none of the top drivers really want to be at Ferrari when Alonso is in such a strong position and I doubt that less exprienced drivers would do any better than Massa.

The benefit of hiring a promising youngster, of course, is that even if he was initially much slower than Alonso, it wouldn't be so pathetic. And there would be hope of better things to come.

I'm really sorry for Massa because that accident ruined his previously quite excellent career, but what can you do... When you're consistently a second a lap slower than your team-mate, you're clearly in the wrong team.

If it was my decision, I'd gamble with Jean-Eric Vergne from Toro Rosso. He's going to be a bit good, I think.

[jens]

Although we have had just one race of 20 and one can claim a single race doesn't make a season, we are now dealing with a case of a driver, who has been underwhelming for 2+ years, not just a single race. And this is a serious issue.

To be frank, I don’t see why (and probably many think in the same way) was Massa kept even for this season. I have to say that in the past I have been cheering for Felipe, especially when he was at his prime a few years ago and fighting for wins. But by now he has completely lost it, and it is sad to see such agony.

Massa’s performance doesn’t justify even his place in F1 any more, let alone Ferrari. If I was a team boss of a random midfield team, can’t say I would be interested in the services of the Brazilian. Only the likes of Caterham and Marussia could be interested in getting some top team experience. So not only Massa’s Ferrari career, but his whole F1 career is quickly coming to an end.

Of course as the car is difficult to drive, it is unlikely that a replacement driver would be significantly better. Massa reminds me Grosjean or Fisichella from the end of 2009, when they were nowhere in a difficult car. There is high possibility the replacement driver would be struggling like that as well, especially with no testing.

But then again Massa is now part of past and Ferrari should be looking to the future – the sooner the better. And there is nothing to lose while they are right now not getting many or any points at all. Midfield is full of exciting young talents and if I was Domenicali, I would be actively in touch with them, evaluating their progress and hiring someone for 2013, be it Pérez, Kobayashi, Hülkenberg, di Resta, Ricciardo, Vergne. Plenty of choice.

If you want mid-season replacement and none of them are available, Alguersuari or Sutil are options.

Oh yes, Trulli is available too and Stefano and Luca diM would be able to claim that they are actually supporting Italian drivers. : But he is old and likely not going to perform well.

[Uneven Treatment]

Poor Felipe, seems an almost broken man. A broken man who drives fast cars every 2nd weekend for millions of dollars and gets to hang out with supermodels whenever he likes. But broken nevertheless.

Hard to see why on recent form Ferrari continue to employ him. Is it a hang over from the days when they were dominant and they actively only wanted one top driver to avoid intra-team conflict? Seems they are now a mid grid team with the mindset of a front runner.

[BDunnell]

I'm really sorry for Massa because that accident ruined his previously quite excellent career, but what can you do...

I don't think what happened in Germany in 2011 helped his morale, either.

[Dave B]

Massa strikes me as the sort of chap who is constantly telling himself not to screw up, so much that he inevitably...

[N. Jones]

Patrick Head is believed to have said, paraphrasing "once a driver is involved in a huge accident he never regains his speed."
I think Felipe Massa fits this statement perfectly.

It's sad but I think he career is over.

[fandango]

Patrick Head is believed to have said, paraphrasing "once a driver is involved in a huge accident he never regains his speed."
I think Felipe Massa fits this statement perfectly.

It's sad but I think he career is over.

Hakkinen or Lauda, to name just two, might have something to say to that. However, I agree with the general sentiment here. Poor Felipe, I've always liked him, but if he doesn't do something impressive soon he's not going to see out the season.

The obvious choice to replace him would be Alguersuari. They could take him on for the rest of the season and then see how Kubica is. Jaume has experience of the Ferrari engine, and he has the drive and motivation to get the most out of the car, combined with enough experience to bring it home in one piece regularly.