Massa To Leave Ferrari

[Quiet One 15]

http://richlandf1.com/?p=13993

I know, he might be worthless, trying to act like a kind, nice guy when he actually isn't, with obvious psychological problems, probably brain damaged, but now I want to talk about the other Massa, the one that drives for Ferrari

So, even if he was never one of my favorite drivers, not even bad enough to be one of my favorite worst drivers, it still makes you kind of sad, doesn't it? After all he IS a nice guy, and he was probably one of the drivers most affected by his own psyche, rather than by his talents or limitations. And I never bought the whole "he was great until Hungary 2009" crap talk. Not a single doctor, or even Massa himself acknowledged that. Truth is he was only good for half a year. Before that he was just like he was these past years, sometimes when the stars were aligned he was very fast, the rest of the time slow and inconsistent.

Then again, we have seen him fly, we have seen him pull wonderful overtaking moves, so it's not as if he didn't have it in him. He just rarely connected with it.

Still, as Alonso and Domenicalli mentioned many times, he compensates his shortcommings with hard work and dedication. He is also very experienced so I think he would be an asset in any team.

Best of luck, Felipinho, and here's for you to find your mojo back and become a truly good driver even if for just a couple of seasons.

Now...Kimi and Rob Smedley? Oh, man...that's gonna be epic.

[Guest]

Fortunately for Massa, Ferrari have had some pretty decent drivers in the other side of the garage during his term, so he's been allowed to be anonymous for most of his time there.

That being said, I'll miss the little chimp! Best wishes Felipe .

[Rainmaster 7]

About time. He's a nice guy and a hard worker, but I hope he goes to be nice and work hard in another racing series. He had plenty of chances already and I don't like a sportsman who suddenly finds his talent around contract time. Guys like Alonso and Vettel are also nice guys and hard workers too, and much more entertaining to watch.

(As you can tell, after beginning to watch F1 effectively as a Kimi fan, 2008 still burns ).

[Quiet One 15]

Don't be so sure he will go to other series. Next year is going to be tough, experience will be more valuable than youth if they want to have a base to develop the car in the future.

[Guest]

In the post-tobacco era, I think most teams are looking for drivers that bring generous sponsors. Massa will need to either find such a sponsor, or take a huge pay cut.

Remember - If Lotus could balance the books as well as they can balance the car, we wouldn't even be talking about this move.

[Massa 0]

http://richlandf1.com/?p=13993

I know, he might be worthless, trying to act like a kind, nice guy when he actually isn't, with obvious psychological problems, probably brain damaged, but now I want to talk about the other Massa, the one that drives for Ferrari

Yeow.

To the rest of your post, I really like your point, Andrés. Massa did not get worse. The rest of the field just got better. 2008 featured top talents in poorer cars (Alonso, Button, Vettel), less-than-top-drivers in the best cars (Kovalainen), a BMW-Sauber with reversed priorities (the 2009 focus that eliminated Kubica's candidacy), and a Ferrari structure that left Räikkönen as a number two driver.

Consider that since returning, he has finished P6, P6, and P7 in the standings. Well, in those years, we had a lot of very good drivers spread out over a lot of competitive constructors...P6 or so is what he always would have been in a field as deep as the ones we have now.

Plus, his 97 points in 18 races in 2008 converts into 92 points in 2007, or P5. That puts his almost-championship year in perspective. He'll be remembered as being so close to it in 2008, but so close to what? The "easiest" championship on record, the one that everyone was seemingly trying to lose?

Massa has always been a driver with a maximum as good as anyone else's, and a frequency of hitting that maximum so far below the drivers we regard as the best. All seasons are not equal, and 2008 illustrates that. Hamilton's best year ever of driving was certainly not that one.

A lot of words to say I agree.

In the post-tobacco era, I think most teams are looking for drivers that bring generous sponsors. Massa will need to either find such a sponsor, or take a huge pay cut.

Agreed. He has enough talent to be worthwhile to someone in F1, but any team that would benefit from him needs what he doesn't have. His only personal backing, at present, comes from TNT Energy Drink/Itaipava.

It's hard to see Lotus not taking Hülkenberg and pairing him with either his current teammate Gutiérrez, with Pérez should McLaren end that experiment, or with someone bringing comparable funding.

On another note, surely Brazil holds the record for longest continuous tenure of having a driver in the field? Obviously, a lot of fans support drivers from their own nations, and with Felipe Nasr being another year or more out from any future F1 debut, you have to worry about the enthusiasm for F1 in Brazil without Massa.

[KoolMonkey 0]

2008, the year Renault cheated and probably cost Massa the title. It was not a vintage year for me, as an F1 fan.

You know what just occured me, Massa's ranks in those years almost match Webber. I bet those 2 drivers actually have very similar stats. And you'd have to add a +1 to Massa's win count if anyone did a proper comparison. That would be the fair thing to do.