Felipe Massa's future

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Wow.. that should finish off the last bit of Massa's confidence. He should just retire now and save himself the humiliation. What unprofessional comments to make. He sounds like an Alonso fanboy.

It most certainly isn't. It's a wake up call. Something he needs. The team has bent over backwards to support Felipe and give him every chance all on loyalty from the team to a driver who has done well in the past but not the recent past. They even flew him out a new chassis. It didn't really help. Yet they still show their support. Felipe had a better race in China and even better still in Bahrain. This is good for him & the team. I suspect we will see these type of comments fade unless he starts performing poorly again. This is a business first & foremost, it's about results. The team has been patient long enough and it's time to produce or move on.
Stefano didn't say anything that wasn't true and if it makes Felipe perform better, so be it. But let's don't go so far as to call him a fanboy.

[Maelstrom]

Wow.. that should finish off the last bit of Massa's confidence. He should just retire now and save himself the humiliation. What unprofessional comments to make. He sounds like an Alonso fanboy.

It most certainly isn't. It's a wake up call. Something he needs. The team has bent over backwards to support Felipe and give him every chance all on loyalty from the team to a driver who has done well in the past but not the recent past. They even flew him out a new chassis. It didn't really help. Yet they still show their support. Felipe had a better race in China and even better still in Bahrain. This is good for him & the team. I suspect we will see these type of comments fade unless he starts performing poorly again. This is a business first & foremost, it's about results. The team has been patient long enough and it's time to produce or move on.
Stefano didn't say anything that wasn't true and if it makes Felipe perform better, so be it. But let's don't go so far as to call him a fanboy.

Comments like that are hardly going to make anybody perform better. It's just humiliating and unsupportive. If Massa has performed better its not because of them its despite them.

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Comments like that are hardly going to make anybody perform better. It's just humiliating and unsupportive. If Massa has performed better its not because of them its despite them.

You can't pic and choose which comments you want to complain about without taking previous comments into consideration. What about all the other comments since the start of the season? We support Felipe. Felipe will be fine. Felipe is part of the family of Ferrari. etc etc. All of this while Felipe was sucking it up. The team has been patient. The comments weren't really out of line, IMHO.

[Maelstrom]

Comments like that are hardly going to make anybody perform better. It's just humiliating and unsupportive. If Massa has performed better its not because of them its despite them.

You can't pic and choose which comments you want to complain about without taking previous comments into consideration. What about all the other comments since the start of the season? We support Felipe. Felipe will be fine. Felipe is part of the family of Ferrari. etc etc. All of this while Felipe was sucking it up. The team has been patient. The comments weren't really out of line, IMHO.

The fact that they were supporting Felipe is good. It's their job to be supportive of their driver. What i'm confused about is why they stopped. He had an okay race in China. That should have been good news for Ferrari. So why make negative comments?

[andartop]

Worth noting that the quoted interview was for a Spanish journal.

I think there's a pretty good chance those quotes were taken out of context, quite a common tactic, and wouldn't read much into it until I see the whole interview.

[horse]

This seems like the most sensible thread to pick up the front page story:

Massa to be replaced at Ferrari?

Has anyone thought that Hamilton might be interested in a drive at Ferrari? Put those rumours to sleep about who is the greatest after all....

[myurr]

This seems like the most sensible thread to pick up the front page story:

Massa to be replaced at Ferrari?

Has anyone thought that Hamilton might be interested in a drive at Ferrari? Put those rumours to sleep about who is the greatest after all....

Even if Alonso would allow it, which he won't, I don't think Hamilton would see Ferrari as being all that attractive. He has a better car at McLaren, and it looks like the team is slowly rallying around him again now that he's got his act together. He seems pretty relaxed and philosophical this year, god knows how he kept his cool this last weekend, so I don't think he'd be in any rush to jump ship to Ferrari. It's not like he's going to be their undisputed number one driver, so why are they more attractive than McLaren?

[raymondu999]

The chance to re-beat Alonso perhaps? I'm not saying he will beat Alonso again, I'm not saying he won't. But that opportunity could strike a chord with Lewis' heartstrings

[myurr]

The chance to re-beat Alonso perhaps? I'm not saying he will beat Alonso again, I'm not saying he won't. But that opportunity could strike a chord with Lewis' heartstrings

Possibly, but more important to him will be to win the world championship again and are Ferrari more likely to deliver that than McLaren?

[horse]

I wouldn't say they are any less likely. They have as much spending power as McLaren, so why not? Alonso thinks they can make him a championship car, right? The only team that might have a technical edge is Red Bull and even that has been rounded off this year.

So why not dice with someone who you believe is as good as you, rather than someone you don't? I think Hamilton likes Button, but I don't think Hamilton thinks Button is the better driver. Button moved teams to test himself against Hamilton on Hamilton's own turf, why shouldn't Hamilton do the same with Alonso?

[Nando]

The chance to re-beat Alonso perhaps? I'm not saying he will beat Alonso again, I'm not saying he won't. But that opportunity could strike a chord with Lewis' heartstrings

I think he will actually, and i love both these guys.

It´s very hard to not look at the first year where Hamilton was a rookie and the things he did that year.

He beat Alonso (barely) in best positions and he beat him Qualifying wise.
I don´t think we ever will see a new guy matching or even better a 2 time world champion in his first year.

[myurr]

I wouldn't say they are any less likely. They have as much spending power as McLaren, so why not? Alonso thinks they can make him a championship car, right? The only team that might have a technical edge is Red Bull and even that has been rounded off this year.

So why not dice with someone who you believe is as good as you, rather than someone you don't? I think Hamilton likes Button, but I don't think Hamilton thinks Button is the better driver. Button moved teams to test himself against Hamilton on Hamilton's own turf, why shouldn't Hamilton do the same with Alonso?

Because Button is someone he can work with constructively to move the whole team forward and give him a better car. While Alonso and Hamilton now seem fine with each other and obviously have a huge amount of respect for each other, I don't think they can actually work constructively with each other. Neither would cope well with being beaten by the other and would start looking at the team for reasons such as inequality.

[horse]

It's a very good point, myurr, regarding the ability of Ferrari to manage the expectations of two great drivers. It's not something they have had to do in a long time. Since Michael was there, they always seem to have a preference to one driver and I think you are right in thinking this might be the stumbling block for both Hamilton and Alonso with such a move.

I'm sure Ferrari wouldn't turn down the opportunity if it was presented to them, though. Prost-Senna is a good example of competitive drivers doing great things for your team, and I'm sure that Hamiton-Alonso would drive each other along nicely (or not so nicely). It's just the issue of whether both of them and Ferrari would be mature enough to make it work.

The same issues must put doubts in the minds of a lot of the top tier drivers - Button, Webber, etc - that you wonder if Ferrari will only be able to attract a young pretender to the throne rather than an experienced head.

Although - another leftfield idea - how about a shock return from Schumacher??? <- EDIT: Ah, that one has been done before! Sorry!

(I really must do some work now...)

[myurr]

Schumacher wouldn't be such a bad option, although I doubt Mercedes would sanction it. He's not doing that well with the Mercedes car and the Ferrari would probably be a better platform for him as it is gentler on the tyres (at least with Alonso's setup). Mercedes would also be a more attractive option for many other drivers on the grid, although again I can't see Hamilton viewing them as the team that's going to deliver him his next title even though he would probably work well with Rosberg.

[elFranZ]

Stay all relaxed guys, on Twitter Ferrari played (again) down recent rumors, the last of which regards a possible arrive of D'Ambrosio in car number 6. Massa is going nowhere outside Ferrari in this season.