Everybody knows that Ferrari has given new chances to Felipe year after year. But this year might just be the last. They always ask him to step up his game and then he does for a few races and then the same careful Massa without motivation comes back. Are they just scaring him again to get better results or are they for real this time?
Massa used to be an awesome driver when he was with Michael Schumacher and Kimi Räikkönen.
It might be because with them he wasn't the number two driver. The Ferrari team let him win and fight and he didn't have to listen to "....is faster than you" (if you didn't understand what I meant then you can ask me in the comment section).
Now he knows that he can't be the champion because of his "status" at Ferrari. Who would have motivation after that? And why does this happen mostly to Brazilian drivers? Remember Rubens Barrichello's time as Schumacher's teammate?
I felt so sorry for him when he had to give his victory to Schumacher. Mika Salo had to give his victory to Eddie Irvine as well in 1999 but Barrichello seems so sympathetic and nice! He didn't deserve to be treated like that race after race. Poor guy..
Now I just feel sad when Massa clearly is a sympathetic guy just like his friend Barrichello. Hope he steps up his game for good this time and really shows Alonso that he still is a good driver!
Remember in 2007 when Massa and Alonso were fighting for the victory on the last laps at Nürburgring? Massa had been phenomenal but unfortunately for his sake Alonso pushed his McLaren into Massa's Ferrari almost taking him out of the race. Alonso won the race and still gave Massa a hard time for driving like an amateur. Massa was furious and Alonso admitted that maybe it was his own fault. I respected Alonso for admitting it at the press conference but I also felt bad for Massa.
The year 2007 was pretty good for him in the other races as well. He won three races, he was four times second and three times third. His teammate Kimi Räikkönen on the other hand won six races, he was twice second, four times third and won the championship.
In 2008 the luck was on Massa's side. Räikkönen retired five times that season which gave Massa a small advantage. He won six races just like Räikkönen the year before but lost to Hamilton by only one point. He thought at first that he was the champion and cheered. Then he realized that Hamilton had overtaken Glock on the last lap and got that extra point. If it would have been a tie Massa would have been the champion because he had six victories and Hamilton only five. Massa cried his eyes out..
In my opinion he can still be happy that he has come closer to win a championship with Ferrari than Alonso.
2009 was a bad year for Ferrari and for some reason they blamed the drivers Massa and Räikkönen at first for not finishing high enough. Later they realized that their car was not as good as it used to be.
They won only one race (Räikkönen in Spa) and the worst thing was that Massa got injured badly in Hungary.
During the qualifying session of the Hungarian grand prix a suspension spring flew from Barrichello's car on the track and through Massa's helmet to his head. After that he crashed into the barriers and spent a week in a hospital.
Massa came back in 2010 but it seemed that his speed was a bit lost from time to time. He got only 5 podiums and almost won a race. That race killed his motivation for good. Massa's race engineer said on the radio "Fernando is faster than you" and meant that Massa should let Alonso pass him (team orders were illegal in 2010). He could have won that race for sure if he wouldn't have heard that message. Ferrari got a penalty for that but the next year team orders were legal.
After that they have even changed Massa's gearbox only to lift Alonso higher up on the grid (if you change the gearbox you get penalized). So I understand that he doesn't have motivation anymore.
Let's just hope that some other team want's Massa if Ferrari doesn't and that he finds his motivation again. Because I really like Massa! Not my favorite driver but I wish him all the best. Stay strong!
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